It Takes Two to Raise a Family
by aqua-dragon28
Summary: The Dex Holders have faced many challenges; from contests to gym leaders to defeating evil organizations. But now they're faced with a challenge they never expected. Parenthood. Shippings: Mangaquest, Frantic, Oldrival, Special, possible Viridian.
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone! School has finally ended! Whoo-hoo! In celebration of this joyful occasion, I've decided to post this. It's my newest story! The idea for this story has actually been running around in my brain for awhile, but the educational system wouldn't allow be time to post this up. However, I haven't completely planned out this story yet, so it may be rocky in some points (sorry!), but that's generally how I work. (Yes, I probably should plan before I write, but that's how I roll.) Plus, I'm going to focus more on "The Thin Line Between Love and Hate" and "Chinese Finger Trap." (I will probably be taking "More or Less" off hiatus state soon.) Anyways, the most exciting part of this story? **SILVER** AND **EMERALD** ARE IN IT!!! Yeah! Um...that's all. Please read and review!

**Shippings**: My usual. Mangaquest, Frantic, Oldrival, small Special. (May contain hidden hints of Viridian, not sure.)

**Rating**: T (Just in case.)

**Summary**: The Dex Holders have faced many challenges; from contests to gym leaders to defeating evil organizations. But now they're faced with a challenge they never expected. Parenthood.

**Disclaimer**: Pokemon is not mine no matter how much I wish it was.

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"Are we there yet?"

I sighed heavily, wiping off a bead of sweat. "No Sapph, we're not there yet."

Sapph, who was trudging along right next to me, sighed loudly as well. "Where are we going again?"

I swatted at a pesky fly that had landed on my arm before answering. "Professor Oak assigned us to go on a mission to catch that rampaging Celebi. Apparently, there were some fanatics who wanted to try and restart Team Dim Sun from Almia. They got hold of a Gigaremo Unit and sent the pokemon in this area into frenzy. Officer Jenny calmed most of the Pokemon, but she called Prof. Oak for backup, so we're here."

Sapph gave me a look that said "huh?"

I shook my head in disbelief. "Basically, we're going to go catch a Pokemon."

"Oh," Sapph said, mouth wide-open in understanding. "But why are they here?" She pointed a thumb back. I looked back, grimacing.

The first ones I saw were Gold and Emerald. Both of them were trying to annoy Silver by sneaking up on either side of the red haired boy and yelling. Silver was rolling his eyes and sighing. Ruby, who was next to Silver was frowning at the loud duo. Blue was watching them and giggling, while Red and Green were talking. Well, Red was talking at Green who was nodding every now and then. Yellow was walking next to Blue, shyly peeking at Red occasionally.

"Let's see…" I muttered. "When Officer Jenny gave us the call, Prof. Oak decided to send me, Red, and Green. Blue decided to tag along and dragged Yellow into this. Silver is always watching over Blue, so he came. Then, Gold and Emerald completely showed up out of nowhere and decided to follow us. And finally, you came swinging from a vine with Ruby chasing you with that dress he wanted you to wear."

Sapph gave me the blank look again. I smacked my forehead lightly. "They just decided to come."

"Okay." We walked in silence for about two seconds before Sapph asked, "Are we there yet?"

Closing my eyes, I counted to three before answering. "No we aren't there yet Sapph."

**-10 minutes later-**

"Whoa…what happened to this place?"

No one answered Red's question. We were all too busy staring in shock at our surroundings. We were looking at a barren land that was completely dirt, not a single blade of grass, a few short shrubs, and for some odd reason, some very large boulders.

"What in Mew's name happened?" Blue said. We all walked forward slowly and cautiously.

"Where's the grass and trees?" Sapph cried out.

I watched Green bend down and run his hand over the dirt. He picked up about a handful, rubbing it with his thumb, before dropping it and brushing off his hand on his pants. Then he went over to a shrub and examined it.

"Hey." Everyone turned to look at Green. "Come over here." We all walked over to where Green and the shrub were. "Look."

I looked down to where Green was pointing. I just saw a regular little shrub. Sure it was very green and seemed fragile, but it was a shrub nonetheless. "It's just a shrub. What about it?" Ruby said, voicing my question.

Green sighed. "Don't you see? This shrub is actually a very young tree. And this," here he picked up another handful of soil, "is the grass." He brushed away most of the dirt, leaving small white specks in his palm.

"Ah! They're seeds!" Yellow cried out. Green nodded grimly.

"What about the huge rocks?" Gold asked, pointing at the massive boulders.

"I don't know…" Green said. "Rocks grow smaller as they're worn out over time by rain, Pokemon, etc."

"Wait…" Now everybody stared at me. "The only way all the trees, grass, and rocks could have re-inverted into their earlier states would be if they were hit by something that could turn them younger. And the only Pokemon that can do that is…"

"Celebi!"

We all turned to gape at the small green Pokemon that was floating in front of us. Though it was still quite a distance away from us, we could see its eyes narrowed angrily at us.

"Celebi!" it cried out again. Suddenly, it rushed straight at us, shooting large green bolts at us. We immediately ran and ducked for cover behind some of the rocks.

"Latios that thing was fast!" Emerald panted. We all nodded in agreement. Cautiously, we poked our heads out from behind the rock and looked at the Celebi. It was still zooming around, furiously throwing large balls of power at anything it saw.

Emerald stared at the small fairy Pokemon before saying, "I'm going to try and shoot it." Before we could protest, he was already dashing away, large, mechanical legs pumping furiously.

"Emerald!" Though he was only two years younger than me, I felt the need to watch out for the blond boy.

I stood up, about to run after Emerald when Gold grabbed my arm. He stared at me for a moment before speaking. "Don't go out there. It's dangerous!"

I was about to protest, but Red's voice interrupted me first. "Wait, where's Yellow?!?"

We immediately scanned the area, looking for Yellow. "Over there!" Sapph cried out, pointing at Yellow who was hiding by a different boulder that was closer to Celebi. Yellow's face had a determined look and I knew that she was going to try and use her powers to calm down Celebi.

"Yellow!" Sapph yelled out. Both Yellow and Celebi looked at Sapph. The Celebi started to fly straight at us in fury. Yellow ran out, straight in front of Celebi, trying to stop it.

"Yellow!" Red jumped out in front of Yellow. Silver, who was the closest to Yellow, also ran out to try to push her out of the way. At the same time, Emerald came running, gun aimed at Celebi who fired at that exact moment.

"Ah!"

The green bolt hit all four of them dead on. I looked away as a bright light flashed. Cautiously, I opened my eyes when the light faded. The others also opened their eyes and we all looked around the rock for our friends.

"Oh my Arceus…"

**-back at Professor Oak's lab-**

"Hi Professor Oak…"

The professor, a rather old man, turned in surprise. "Oh Crys! Back so soon?"

"Yes…" came the forlorn reply.

"I suppose you managed to help fix the problem?" the professor asked, rummaging through some files, holding his cup of coffee.

"Yes…"

The professor nodded. "Good, good. Well Crystal, I thought that today we could start on the…"

"Professor?" Crys' voice interrupted Professor Oak's rambling.

"Yes Crystal?" said the Professor, clicking his pen idly.

There was a pause. "We have a new problem."

"What? A new problem? What is it?" The professor spun around in his chair to face the direction where Crystal's voice was coming from.

"This."

The dex holders stood in front of the professor. The only difference from the group that had left that morning and the one that was before him now was that now four of the ten were babies.

The professor dropped his cup of coffee. It shattered into many pieces, spilling hot liquid all over the floor. But the professor could care less. "Latios…What happened?!?"

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**A/N:** Well, finished with the first chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it (I'll make the next one longer, this is just the beginning), and as usual, please REVIEW!!!


	2. Chapter 2

Hey people! Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad to see that you guys think this story seems interesting. Let's see...to **Chain333**, thanks for pointing out the pokegod thing (I'll try to keep it to a minimum...sorry for the over usage!) and to **Snoaz**, I'm sorry if I made Sapph seem dumb (I was going for a kind of short attention span, but now that I read over it, I realize I did make her seem a little...unintelligent, so yeah...) Anyways, please read on and review!

**Disclaimer**: Pokemon isn't mine; must we bring that up every chapter?

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**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"Yeah…we have a slight problem Professor."

Professor Oak stumbled forward, still looking dazed. "I can see that Crystal…but, what happened?!?"

"Well…" I started, looking at the others for help in explaining. They all looked away. "Celebi was enraged and firing these green bolts at us. One of them managed to hit Red, Yellow, Silver, and Emerald."

"I see…" The professor was now examining the babies. "Luckily this bolt doesn't seem to have harmed them; it's just made them younger."

Suddenly Sapph growled loudly. "What do you mean it hasn't harmed them?!? They're babies!!!"

Prof. Oak stepped back, cowering at the rage of Sapph. "What I meant is that they aren't injured. And they're not actually babies. They're more like toddlers."

"What's the difference?" Sapph demanded. Prof. Oak sweatdropped.

"Toddlers are able to function better than babies who depend on parents more. For example, toddlers can walk or say simple words, while babies cannot. But medically speaking, it's hard to tell since the ages of babies and toddlers often overlap each other."

"Professor, that's great and all, but what are we supposed to do with them?" Ruby piped up. The rest of us also looked at the professor desperately.

Prof. Oak stared at the group of toddlers sitting on the floor. Yellow was looking up cutely at everyone with Red close by. He was watching Emerald closely. Emerald was trying to walk around (falling quite often on his bottom), oblivious to the situation. Silver stared down at all of them from the arms of Blue who was holding him.

Suddenly the professor spoke. "Wait…if everything the bolt hit turned back to their earlier states, why do they still have their clothes?"

All of us sweatdropped, not expecting that question. "Blue had a bag of Silver's old clothes and I had some of Emerald's clothes in my bag. (He didn't really get smaller so they still fit him). The clothes Red and Yellow are wearing are actually Ruby's Pokemon's contest costumes."

"I see…" The professor looked at Yellow and Red again. Yellow was wearing a pink dress that Ruby had actually made for his Delcatty, while Red was wearing a suit that Ruby had made for his Mightyena. (Both had to be modified, of course.)

"So, do you know what we can do?" Gold asked.

We all waited eagerly as Prof. Oak pondered for a few moments. Finally, "I have no idea."

"What?!?" we all shrieked the professor. All the toddlers jumped at our tones and Yellow's eyes started to well up. Sapph, who was closest to her, instinctively picked her up. Red glared up at Ruby until Ruby picked him up as well.

The professor gave up a sheepish look and shrugged. "I've honestly never heard of a case like this ever before. I could ask around…"

"But what about the toddlers?!?" Ruby's voice bordered hysterical.

"Well…" the professor scratched his chin thoughtfully, "We could tell their parents."

"We can't," Green said. "They're all gone."

"Gone?" the professor repeated, raising an eyebrow. He looked at me for an explanation.

I ticked off my fingers as I listed all the reasons. "Giovanni's still in the hospital recovering, Yellow's uncle is on a 10 month fishing expedition, Emerald's an orphan, and Red…" I turned to Green. He shrugged. "Yeah…Red's parents are never there," I finished.

"…Uh-huh…" The professor looked slightly overwhelmed.

"Ok Professor. So what do we do?" Blue asked, stepping forward slightly.

Professor Oak turned away from us, pacing and muttering to himself. We all watched him apprehensively. Finally, he spun around to face us. "I've got it!"

"Yes?" We all lent forward eagerly.

"You'll have to take care of them!" The professor watched us, waiting for our reactions.

There was a moment's pause. Then, "WHAT?!?"

Professor Oak was practically blown backwards by our yells. He raised an eyebrow at us. "What do you mean "what"? I don't see the problem."

For once in my life, I couldn't believe that Professor Oak was one of the smartest, leading, expert scientists in the world. "Um professor? We're not old enough, knowledgeable enough, or experienced enough to raise kids!"

"Nonsense!" the professor chuckled. "You've all faced worse things; raising a few children will be a snap!"

"Where are we going to raise them? How long do we have to do it? And, HOW are we supposed to raise them?" Ruby yelped.

Professor Oak sat down in front of his computer and proceeded to type something. Not turning to face us, he answered Ruby's questions. "I think I have a friend who has spare room for you to live in. You'll only have to take care of them until I find a cure and don't worry, raising kids isn't too hard. Why I remember when Green was a baby…"

"Grandpa…" Green cut in, his voice dangerously quiet.

Professor Oak stopped short. "Erm…never mind. It's nothing important." We all looked at Green curiously and turned away when he glared at us.

"Anyways-!" the professor continued, clapping his hands together. "I suggest you pick who you want to take care of! And everyone has to help." He gave Sapph and Ruby (who had tried to sneak out the door) a stern glare.

"I want to take care of Silver!" Gold's grin was huge (and slightly maniacal) as he turned to Silver.

"No way," Blue quickly replied, turning away with Silver still in her arms.

For a moment, Gold deflated. Then, just as quickly, he brightened up. "Fine. Then I've got dibs on the shortie!"

He grabbed one of Emerald's arms just as I grabbed Emerald's other hand. I glared at Gold right over Emerald's head. "Let go."

"No way! Besides, Emerald likes me better than you super-serious gal!"

"No, he likes me better! I've known him longer!"

"Well, he admires me more!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"Crystal! Gold!" The professor's voice broke in. "How do you expect to even raise a child when you two can't even stop acting like them?"

We looked down, subdued, though we still glowered at each other from the corner of our eyes. The professor waited for a moment and seeing that we had stopped bickering he started to speak again.

"Now, since you both want to take care of Emerald, you will BOTH be responsible for him." We opened our mouths to protest, but the professor cut us off. "No. You two need to learn to get along. So this is the perfect time to learn. What about you four?"

Blue gripped Silver more tightly as Green stood there, arms crossed, and sighed. Ruby and Sapph looked down at Red and Yellow, then back at Professor Oak and shrugged.

"Okay…since you guys can't decide, Green and Blue, why don't you two take Red and Yellow since you guys are the eldest and Sapphire and Ruby can take Silver?"

Blue shook her head. "No, I'm keeping Silver. No offense guys," she added to Ruby and Sapph. They both shrugged again.

"Fine. Then Blue and Green, you two take Silver and Yellow; and Ruby and Sapphire can take Red." Sapph looked slightly dubious, but handed Yellow to Green who took her awkwardly. Yellow looked wide-eyed as she was passed like a torch from Sapph to Green. Once again, her eyes filled up with tears and she opened her mouth.

"Waah!!!!!" Loud sobs filled the lab as we all stepped back at Yellow's cries. She squirmed in Green's arms, reaching out with both hands. Red began to beat at Ruby's arms as he tried to reach Yellow. Ruby struggled to hold onto Red as he kicked and punched wildly.

"Professor! I don't think that's a good idea!" Ruby yelled over Yellow. Professor Oak clenched his teeth and nodded. "Give her back to Sapph!" the professor shouted to Green. Green quickly obliged, handing Yellow to Sapph. Red reached out and touched Yellow's hand. Yellow immediately calmed down.

We all stared in amazement at Yellow who was now blinking innocently at us all. "Who would have thought that Yellow would be the loudest one of them all?" Blue finally said. We all nodded in agreement.

Ruby turned to Professor Oak and raised an eyebrow. "Still think it's a good idea to separate the two?"

"Definitely not. So…who wants to take care of Red and Yellow?" Professor Oak looked hopefully at Green, Ruby, and Sapph. Ruby and Sapph looked slightly nervously at Green. I could tell they were both afraid of Green's rather intimidating demeanor.

"Ok…then. Green, why don't you work with Red and Yellow with Sapph and Ruby can work with Blue and Silver?" Green shrugged, trudging over to Sapph. I noticed Ruby glare at Green and step closer to Sapph.

"Actually, Sapph and I can handle Red and Yellow," Ruby said firmly.

Sapph's head practically snapped as she looked at Ruby in disbelief. "What?!?" Green merely blinked and stepped back, while Blue smirked mysteriously.

"Are you sure?" Professor's Oak sounded uncertain.

"Yes." Ruby stared down Professor Oak until a sudden ringing noise came from the computer. The professor went over to his computer and clicked on something.

"Ah, looks like my friend got my mail. Perfect."

"What's perfect?" Gold butted in. I glared at him for his lack of manners.

"My friend just opened a building of apartments. Luckily, there are three empty apartments, which are ideal for our little situation."

I blinked at the professor. "So we're really going to live together and raise…kids?"

"Sure! Again, it's not that hard! Besides it'll only be for a few days tops. Don't worry about it," the professor said, escorting us to the door. We all walked out, still looking back worriedly with only the apartments' address, four toddlers, and each other to depend on.

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**A/N**: Mwahaha, everyone's been paired up now... As to why each kid is with each pair? Actually, this fic. was inspired because I was reading through Serebii net forums' pairing section. In the Pokespecial section or the Mangaquestshipping one (which I think are both closed now, so sad...), some people were saying that in FRLG, Green was acting in a kind of mentor role to Silver and of course, everyone knows that Silver and Blue have a strong bond already, so they were sort of acting parental towards Silver. They also said that in the Emerald Arc, Gold was influencing Emerald a lot and that they got along together very well, plus Crys also had that sort of sisterly-motherly bond with Emerald; which showed Gold and Crys as Emerald's "parents." As for why I didn't make Ruby/Sapphire the kids for Red/Yellow? That's because Red/Yellow's relationship is way more subtle (as I've stated before) than Ruby/Sapph's. Plus, Ruby/Sapph's parenting skills need to be tested, no? Haha, you'll see... Anyways, please REVIEW!


	3. Chapter 3

Oh dear...I haven't updated this story in like...3 months? Oops.... Sorry my dear readers! (And thank you to all the kind people who reviewed.) Well, I actually haven't updated any of my stories for quite a while and this was stored away for a while. I'm actually not too happy with this chapter (I apologize for how it's broken up between point of views/shifts; terribly short for all the P.O.V.s) but I felt bad for not updating for so long and I haven't had time. Anyways, please enjoy anyways. And please review!

**Disclaimer**: Pokemon still isn't mine...

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**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"Well, we're here."

I turned toward the others who just stood there unresponsively. We all looked at our "home" for the next few….days…weeks…months…? The building was a modest one, painted white with windows aligned perfectly in two straight rows. I counted five floors of windows just as the door in front of us (a heavy oak door) opened.

An elderly woman whose white hair was tied up in a tight bun came out slowly, aided by a cane. She looked at us quizzically. Finally she spoke. "Hello. Who might you children be?"

I opened my mouth, but Gold already started yammering. "I'm Gold! This serious gal is Crystal, the shortie on my back is Emerald, the wild girl is Sapphire, the fashion freak is Ruby, the quiet gal is Yellow, the bored guy is Green, Ms. Sexy over there is Blue, the mini bored guy is Silver, and that's Red!"

We all glared at Gold except Blue who blushed slightly and the toddlers who didn't understand. (It did seem that Silver was giving Gold a rather angry look.)

"Professor Oak sent us here," I said. The lady gave me a blank look. "Samuel Oak…?" I added.

"Ah! Samuel! Yes, he sent me a mail saying you would be coming here. Yes…" She nodded vaguely as we all watched her in slight amusement and confusion.

"So, where are we staying?" Sapph spoke up after a minute.

The woman stopped nodding and looked up, adjusting her glasses. "Young lady, have some patience!" She stomped her cane on the ground as we all jumped. "Now, you will all be staying on the second floor…Follow me."

She began to amble slowly down the path and we followed. Suddenly she stopped and turned. "By the way, my name is Jane Orchid. Please refer to me as Ms. Orchid." Finished speaking, she walked inside as we followed.

**-inside-**

"It's beautiful!"

Ruby's voice rang throughout the empty first floor as we walked in. The whole floor looked like a fancy hotel lobby, complete with comfy sofas, a desk, and a pond with Magikarp.

"Yes, it is," Ms. Orchid murmured. "Nice to see that some children these days still have manners." Ruby gave Sapph a smug grin as she glared at him. "Take off your shoes!" Ms. Orchid yelled suddenly, whapping Gold on the head with her cane.

Gold whipped around with a furious look in his eyes. "You crazy old-!" I immediately covered his mouth with my hand and turned to Ms. Orchid.

"Of course…sorry…." We all took off our shoes, leaving them on the shoe rack near the sofas, and putting on slippers that were next to the rack. Gold continued to glare and mutter things like, "crazy old zubat" and "that woman is whack," as we continued onto the elevator next to the desk.

**-2 floors later-**

"Here are your suites," Ms. Orchid said. She handed Green, Ruby, and me the keys. "Your rooms are to the left of the elevator," she directed to Ruby and I. "And yours' are on the right. Good night," she said to Green and Blue. With that, she went down with the elevator, leaving us alone.

We all stood there before Ruby broke the silence. "Guess we better check out these rooms…" We all nodded and separated.

**-in front of Room #1-**

"Click-!"

Slowly the door swung opened as Sapph and I stared into the darkness. My hand fumbled over the wall searching for a light switch as we stumbled in. Finally, the lights turned on as I flipped the switch.

"Hm…not bad," I observed. The style of the room was modern and classy, mostly in shades of black and white, with a few potted plants in the corners. Sapph wrinkled her nose.

"It's too cramped!" she protested, kicking off her slippers.

I sighed, putting down Yellow onto the black sofa in the middle of the room. Red wriggled out of Sapph's grasp, climbing up next to Yellow. Both of their heads were drooping as they blinked sleepily. I watched them for a minute before turning away.

"We should probably check out the rest of this place," I said to Sapph. She nodded in response.

After we had seen the kitchen, bathroom, and closet, we came across two doors. Sapph raised an eyebrow, opening the first door.

Inside were two identical beds that were children-sized. The wallpaper was alphabet print and the carpet was a light shade of pink. Scattered about on the floor were various games, toys, and stuffed pokedolls.

"I'm guessing this is the kids' room…." I muttered.

"No duh." Sapph rolled her eyes and walked out. I couldn't resist rolling my own eyes at her sarcasm before following her out. Already, Sapph had opened the second door and was simply standing in the door way with her back facing me.

"What's up?" I asked. I tried to peek over her shoulder just as she turned around, eyes blazing with anger.

"Why the fuck is there only ONE bed?!" she yelled.

Quickly, I put a hand over her mouth. "Shh! The kids might hear you!" I looked inside, horrified by the fact that what Sapph said was indeed true. There was only ONE bed.

I gaped in horror as I stared at the innocent queen-sized bed. While it was true that the bed _was_ big enough to fit the two of us; the thought of sharing a bed with Sapph was….well, terrifying to say the least.

My eyes shifted as Sapph sat down on the bed. She sighed loudly, before asking, "So now what?"

"Well…" I started uncertainly. "We could always…share?"

"Hell no!" Sapph looked mortified.

"Why not?" I yelled back, slightly angered by her expression.

Sapph glared daggers straight at me. "Because you're going to-!"

I cut her off immediately, seeing the direction this conversation was headed. "I would never do that!" I protested. I could feel my neck growing hot at the very thought of what Sapph was implying.

"Sure…" she snorted.

Both of us were silent for a moment; I was still standing in the doorway, while Sapph was picking at the threads in the bed sheet. I turned around and called back to Sapph. "I'm gonna put Red and Yellow to bed. We'll talk about this later…"

As I walked out, I thought I could hear Sapph muttering angrily.

**Room #2**

**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"Sheesh super serious gal, calm down!"

"How can I be calm?" I shrieked. My voice rose an octave. "I'm stuck here in an apartment, with a toddler, a pervert like you, and only ONE bed!"

Gold chuckled, leaning against the white wall of (I shuddered) _our_ bedroom. "Even if Rald's a toddler and yeah, we do only have one bed, how are you sure that I'm a pervert?"

I raised my eyebrow skeptically at him. "Don't even start. I know exactly how your sick mind works." Though he had the decency to blush, Gold didn't have the brains to wipe away the smirk that was growing on his face.

I shuddered, picking up Emerald from where he was sitting on the bed and walked out the door. "Where are you going?" Gold asked.

"Putting Emerald to bed," I answered. After a moment of thought, I added, "Don't do anything stupid."

Gold saluted me, his idiotic grin back in place. "Roger that!"

"This is going to be a long…while," I sighed.

**Room #3**

**Green's P.O.V.**

"…"

"…"

Blue walked into the room, rubbing her damp hair with a towel and stopped, raising an eyebrow. "What are you guys doing?"

"…"

"…"

Both Silver and I didn't respond. I continued glaring at that…midget, while he glared right back at me. Blue continued to watch us for a second, before walking over and scooping Silver up, giggling.

She shook her long hair back and hefted Silver to one side with an arm. "I can't even leave you two alone for thirty minutes without coming back and finding you looking like you're about to kill each other," she mock-sighed.

I rolled my eyes. "You're too noisy pesky girl…" I noticed Silver's glare deepen as I said this. "Besides, it's him that's glaring at me."

Blue held Silver up to eye level to check. At that moment, his face straightened into a stoic expression. Blue frowned.

"No he isn't!" she huffed indignantly. "Just because you don't like getting in trouble, doesn't mean you should pin the blame on others!"

My eye twitched as I realized a small smirk growing on Silver's face as Blue turned around. "I'm going to put Silver to bed; see you later!" she called back.

"That evil kid…" I couldn't help but think as I went to the bedroom.

**Room #1**

**Ruby's P.O.V.**

"Urgh-! Why can't you stay in your bed?"

I ran out of the bedroom and into the kids' (wow it felt weird saying that…) bedroom. Once inside I could see Sapph holding up a struggling Red while a frightened looking Yellow sat on her bed, staring at the pair of them.

"What's going on?" I asked. I had been unpacking my things (we had stopped by our houses before coming to Ms. Orchid's home) when I had heard the commotion.

Sapph's head whipped around to face me as she practically growled out, "Red won't stay in his freakin' bed!"

I cocked an eyebrow in confusion. "Why? And don't use that kind of language in front of the kids," I added.

She rolled her eyes but shrugged in response to my question. "I dunno. Every time I try to get him to stay in his bed, he keeps trying to get up!"

"Well, maybe you should try asking him," I said patiently. I took Red from Sapph and sat him down on the empty bed. Looking at him seriously, I asked. "Why do you keep getting out of bed?"

No response.

"Is it because you have to go to the bathroom?"

Red shook his head.

"Are you thirsty?" Sapph tried.

Another head shake.

"Hungry?"

Another no.

"What do you want?" Sapph half-yelled in frustration. I shook my head at her impatience as Red stared at her in awe, and Yellow looked slightly afraid.

This time however, there was a response. Red pointed a chubby finger straight ahead. I looked where he was pointing. Yellow. Obviously, Red was extremely protective of Yellow; so much so that he didn't even want to leave her side when they were sleeping. Sapph and I looked at each other in confusion. Carefully, I put Red down and went over to Sapph to discuss the situation.

"Well, should we let them?" I whispered to Sapph.

"I dunno; I don't see why not." She shrugged nonchalantly.

I looked back at the kids. Red had already tucked Yellow in and was watching her wide-eyed as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. I couldn't help smile a little at the sight. They reminded me of…I glanced at Sapph who raised her eyebrows quizzically at me. I turned to Red, shaking my head free of thoughts.

"Fine…here." Hurriedly I tucked Red in next to Yellow. Almost immediately, he fell asleep with a content expression.

Sapph and I tiptoed out of the room, carefully easing the door closed. Immediately, both of us sighed simultaneously and slid to the ground. "Who knew just putting them to bed would be this complicated?" I sighed.

Sapph just nodded in a tired manner. Finally she stood up and stretched. "I'm gonna go shower now," she called back.

Immediately I sat up straight. Shower? And then after that…I shivered. Bed time.

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**A/N**: Haha, yes the old sharing the room/bed scenario. Yes I know I kind of did this in my other story ("Chinese Finger Trap") but this one will be a little more interesting...*insert evil laughter*; you'll see in the next chapter. Again, sorry for taking so long to update and sorry for how badly this chapter is broken up. Perhaps I will edit it one day....or not. Please leave a review!


	4. Stories, Monsters, and Blanket Hogs

At long last...a new chapter has arrived. Er...sorry for the long wait... Thank you my dear reviewers for the great reviews last chapter and everyone for being patient. You guys are all great! This chapter is in Gold, Sapphire, and Green's P.O.V.'s. (I did Green's last chapter, but come on, we all love Green! Just kidding; next chapter will definitely be in Blue's P.O.V.) A quick note: **I.T.T.R.F** (a.k.a. It Takes Two to Raise a Family) in the middle of some of the P.O.V.'s is simply a time break; not a change in P.O.V. That's all. Please enjoy and review!

**Disclaimer**: Pokemon isn't mine.

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**Gold's P.O.V.**

"And then the pretty princess Illumise fell in love with the Volbeat begger and the two lived happily ever after. The end," I intoned in a very bored voice.

"Again! Again!" Emerald chanted, clapping his hands and bouncing madly up and down on his bed.

"Argh! Not again you little freak!" Reaching over, I was about to strangle the little brat, before Crys' voice stopped me.

"Gold!" She marched over and grabbed Rald. "You can't hit little kids!"

I rolled my eyes. "He's not a little kid; he's a monster. I've gotten him at least seven drinks of water, taken him to the bathroom three times, and read so many bedtime stories I can't even feel my voice anymore!"

Crys rolled her eyes. "The fact that you're yelling at me implies something very different." Putting down Rald, she picked up the books. "The Little Bagon who Could?"

I nodded. "It's his second favorite. His first is…"

"…The Ugly Feebas?" Crys finished.

"Yeah, but he also likes "The Shiny Ninetales and the Seven Eeveelutions,"" I added.

"Right…" Crys nodded, looking slightly disturbed. "Well, since you've found out which stories Emerald likes, why isn't he in bed?"

My eye twitched violently as Crys brought back the reason I had been so irritated only minutes ago. "I don't know why! Every time I finish, he just goes, "More, more!""

Crys smiled (a smile that would almost be a smirk if Crys actually smirked). "That's simple enough." Picking up Rald again, she placed him in the bed, tucking the covers up to his chin. "Bed-time Emerald! Time to go to sleep!" she sang cheerfully. Leaning over, she kissed him on his forehead.

Within minutes, the kid was out cold, snoring gently, mouth wide open. My own mouth dropped in shock. "How'd you do that?!?"

"Shh!" Crys hissed at me, pulling my arm until we were both in the hallway. She shut the door before answering. "I took care of Rald when he was younger remember? I know a lot more about him than you know."

"Yeah?" I scoffed. "That kid's been hanging around me since he defeated the Battle Frontier. Plus, he's a guy! I think I know him better than you."

"Really?" Crys raised a delicate eyebrow incredulously. She opened her mouth as though to say something, but changed her mind. Her mouth shut in a firm line. "Fine. Believe what you want to believe."

With that, she turned around and marched to the bedroom, head held high. I scoffed again. There was no way Crys knew Rald better than me. No way.

**I.T.T.R.F**

I blinked twice, eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness as I squinted at the clock sitting on the nightstand. 2:45. No wonder it was so dark. Scratching my head, I sat up in confusion. I was a pretty heavy sleeper, but I thought I had heard something moving around in apartment…

Too sleepy to care or investigate, I shrugged, about to go back to sleep.

"Bang-!"

My eyes shot open. Something was in the living room… Glancing at Crys who was still sound asleep on the bed (she had forced me to sleep on the floor), I sighed. If there was some burglar in the apartment, there was no way in hell I was going to let him hurt Crys.

Grabbing a baseball bat that was conveniently (and randomly) leaning on the nightstand next to Crys , I crept out of the bedroom.

"Ok Gold. There's nothing to freak out about…" I muttered to myself, resisting the urge to flick on the lights. If I was going to get this burglar, I was going to catch him by surprise.

"Clang-!"

I jumped, bat at the ready. But nothing happened. I snuck down the hall, peering around the corner. My eyes widened as I caught sight of my backpack containing my pokemon. If I could get Explotaro, this would be the last house this guy was ever gonna rob.

I moved forward…

"Squeeeeek-!"

Wincing, I quickly stepped back, looking left and right to see if the robber had heard. Nothing. I breathed a sigh of relief and glared at the stupid floorboard. Again, I moved forward, this time, making sure I lifted my foot high and setting it down gently.

No sound. I smirked, walking confidently (and stealthily) towards my backpack. I had almost reached it when I…slipped.

"Slow-!"

"Gaah-!

"BOOM-!"

"Fuck-!" I hissed, clutching my head where it had smashed into the wooden floor of the living room. My eyes watered in pain. "What the fuck was that?!"

Squinting into the dark, I was finally able to make out the shape of a squeaky Slowpoke toy lying innocently in front of me. I growled loudly, grabbing the stupid thing and strangling it.

"Stupid-!"

"Uweeeeeeh….."

I stopped at the sudden noise in the dark. "Uweeeeeh……." The sound grew louder as I whipped around quickly.

"UWEEEEEEEEEEH!!!!!"

"HOLY SHI-!"

Running full speed towards me was what looked like a zombie; it had two pointed horns, half-lidded eyes, and a total dead expression as it moaned. I held up the Slowpoke, jumping backwards to give myself some distance.

"SHIT!"

Unfortunately, I had jumped backwards, smack onto the baseball bat I had dropped earlier; managing to slip on it and come crashing down…again.

"BAM-!"

"Gah!" I yelped, grabbing the back of my head with one hand, but still Krabby-crawling backwards to get away from the thing.

"What is going on here?"

I blinked as the lights suddenly turned on. Still seeing stars, I squinted to my left and saw Crys looking both furious and amused.

"What in Latias' name are you doing?" she asked, sounding exasperated.

"!" I babbled incoherently, pointing straight at where the zombie was.

Crys blinked and looked where I was pointing. She walked over, bending down. When she straightened up, I could see the figure she held in her arms.

"You mean Rald?"

In the bright light, I could now see the "zombie" had been Emerald, who surprisingly, was still out cold. As I watched, he breathed in loudly through his mouth. "Uweeeeh…."

"This was your monster?" Crys' voice definitely had a tone of amusement. Again, I could see the pseudo- smile (almost-smirk) on her face. "Emerald?"

"Hey! How was I supposed to know he would be running around the house?" I shouted back defensively.

"Well, if you knew Emerald, you would know that he's a sleepwalker," Crys said. "But for some reason, he only does it in places he feels comfortable sleeping at."

"And why here?"

Crys looked puzzled for a minute, trying to figure it out. Then, she smiled. "I guess he knows he's with his favorite person."

"Me," we both said at the same time.

Crys glared. "I've told you before. Rald likes me best."

I glared back. "No, he likes me better!"

"No, me!"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"Uweeeeeh!!!!!"

Both of us stopped, startled. Rald's face had scrunched up into a painful expression. But as soon as we stopped arguing, his expression turned peaceful again.

"That was…" I started.

"Weird," Crys finished.

We both paused, glancing at one another before bursting out in laughter. My grin widened at the beautiful sound of Crys' laugh, like a bell ringing.

Slowly, we stopped, still smiling. Looking at Rald, I saw he was grinning too. Weird.

Crys noticed, but simply shook her head. "Well, I'm going to put Rald back in bed." As I watched her walk towards the bedroom (déjà vu much?), she looked back over her shoulder.

"By the way, you not knowing about Emerald's sleepwalking means that you don't know him as well as I do," she said. A smug grin turned up the corners of her mouth before she turned away.

Silently, I watched her go. Then, I looked down at the Slowpoke squeaky toy still in my hand. "This is all your fault," I said, gripping it tightly.

"Slowpoke!"

**Sapphire's P.O.V.**

"BOOM-!"

I shot up in bed, eyes peering into the dark. What was that? I decided to look around and check on the Red and Yellow. I needed to make sure they were okay…

"Sapph?"

I turned, startled. Ruby was sitting up in his bed (on the floor), rubbing his eyes sleepily. He stood up. "What are you doing?"

"I heard a noise," I said simply. "I'm going to check on the kids."

"Wait, what?" He looked wide awake now; like he'd drank ten cups of coffee. "Then why are we just standing here?"

Without another word, he shot out of the room. Shaking my head, I followed. Who knew Ruby would be this paranoid?

"Whoa!" I yelped, skidding to a stop. I had almost run straight into Ruby who was simply peeking into the kids' bedroom. "What gives?" Instead of answering, Ruby gestured for me to come closer. I peered around his shoulder.

Inside, I could just make out the dark outline of a tiny red and the even smaller figure hiding behind him (Yellow). Both were out of the bed and facing the bedroom closet.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

Oddly enough, Ruby was smiling. "Not sure; just watch." Of course, from his look, he probably did know, but I decided to just do what Ruby said for once.

As we watched, Red inched forward towards the closet with Yellow close behind. At one point, she let out a small whimper of fear (that strangely made me want to run forward and comfort her), causing Red to stop and whisper something, patting her head.

I strained to hear what he said, but Red had already begun to approach the closet one more. Suddenly, another "BOOM-!" echoed in the room.

"Eep-!" Yellow cried. Within moments, she was sobbing, rubbing her eyes furiously with balled fists.

"Shh…" Before I could even blink, Ruby was holding Yellow and murmuring quietly to her. I stepped into the room and turned on the lights. Red came over, pulling indignantly at my pajama bottoms until I picked him up.

"What's wrong guys?" Ruby asked when Yellow had finally calmed down. "What happened?"

Sniffling, Yellow pointed a tiny finger at the closet door. I walked over, opening the door as Red and I both peered in suspiciously. Nothing.

I looked back at Ruby who (again) had a smile on his face. "Were you frightened by the noise? He asked Yellow. She nodded hesitantly. "Scared there might be monsters in the closet?" Another nod.

I raised my eyebrows; they thought there were monsters in the closet? But Ruby was unfazed by the crazy idea.

"Don't worry. There aren't any monsters," Ruby said reassuringly. Both Yellow and Red still looked skeptical. Ruby glanced at me for help.

"Yeah! Don't worry; even if there are monsters, we'll beat them up!" I grinned at the two. Slowly, Yellow began to smile at our reassurances and Red (seeing that Yellow was happy), began to clap and bounce in my arms.

Ruby chuckled. "Ok you two, back to bed."

We put Red and Yellow back into their shared bed, tucking them in snugly. "Night you two," Ruby said, patting both their heads before walking out of the room. I followed, flicking off the lights. As I glanced back, I saw Red's hand grasp Yellow's. A small smile graced Yellow's face as the two fell asleep.

I felt myself smile at the scene. Who knew kids could be this cute?

**I.T.T.R.F**

I yawned as I walked into the bedroom. "I can't believe they were afraid of monsters in the closet," I said to Ruby.

He didn't answer; intently watching something on his video camera. Curious, I peeked over his shoulder.

On screen were Red and Yellow. It showed them from only a few minutes ago; Red protectively walking to the closet to battle the "monsters" and Yellow hiding behind him, shyly peeking around him.

"You were filming them?" I asked. I couldn't remember seeing a camera in Ruby's hands before.

"Yeah, you just didn't notice," Ruby explained, still starring at the film. "Probably 'cause you were too busy watching those two."

As both of us continued watching, we got to the part where Red had turned around and whispered something to Yellow and patted her head. Ruby cocked his head, looking puzzled. He rewound the tape back to the spot.

"Do you hear what he's saying?" Ruby asked, straining to listen.

I leaned forward, aware at how my arm was brushing Ruby's as I tried to make out what Red was saying. "Uh…sounds like…protect."

"Protect?" Ruby seemed confused. "Hm…" His eyes looked distant for a moment like he was thinking hard.

I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Huh?" Ruby blinked and laughed. "Nothing. I was just thinking how fitting that Red's first word would be protect. It's just like Red."

"I guess…" Looking back at the screen where Yellow was clutching onto Red's shirt, I thought of something. "Um…don't they remind you of anyone?"

"Remind me of anyone? No."

"Anyone at all?" I pressed, getting slightly angrier at his obliviousness.

Ruby shrugged. "No."

I groaned. "Whatever. I'm going to bed!" I yelled, frustrated. Shoving Ruby off my bed, I jumped under the covers, pulling them up to my chin and settling down on the pillow with a huff.

Ruby raised his eyebrows in confusion, but didn't say anything. As I was closing my eyes, I could see him sitting n his own bed, replaying the tape over and over again, simply watching with the same confused expression…

**Green's P.O.V.**

"Waaaaaah-!"

"Wha-?"

Blue and I both sat up in confusion at the sudden noise erupting from down the hall. "What's going on?" I asked, turning to Blue.

She blinked. "I dunno." She thought for a minute. "Wait. Did you turn off the light in Silver's room?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's why!" Blue exclaimed. "Silver's terrified of the dark! Mew! Silver!" She scrambled out of the bed, pulling half the sheets along with her.

I sat in the bed, wondering whether or not I should follow Blue. Before I could actually move though, Blue was back, carrying a crying Silver in her arms.

"It's okay Silver. I've got you," Blue crooned in a voice I didn't even know she was capable of using. Silver sniffled, but began to quiet down. Blue glared at me.

"Green! How could you turn off the lights?"

"How should I know the kid's afraid of the dark?" I retorted, shaking my head. Blue sighed, but didn't argue back.

"Anyways, do you want to sleep with us tonight Silver?" she asked, addressing the boy in her arms. Silver (done crying) nodded, eyes widened innocently. "Ok. You can sleep between me and Green."

"Wait, what?" Blue glared so hard, I simply decided to let her have her way as she settled Silver between herself and me.

"Night!" she said cheerfully.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Turning in annoyance, I looked straight into mini-Silver's face glaring at me as he continued to kick me. It didn't hurt since he was tiny, but it was extremely aggravating.

"Stop it," I muttered to the brat.

Silver's glare only deepened as the kicks continued. After a minute of glaring, I realized it wasn't worth my time. After all, the kicks didn't hurt at all plus the kid was going to tire out in a minute anyways… I turned away and shut my eyes.

"Fweep-!"

My eyes flew open in surprise as the blanket jerked away from me. Once again, I turned to find Silver glaring at me, all the sheets covering him and Blue. He grinned evilly.

"Oi. Give them back." I reached over to take back my share of the blankets.

"Snap-!"

I yanked my hand back just as Silver shut his teeth exactly where my hand had been seconds ago. He barred his tiny teeth at me, eyes glowering at me spitefully.

I tried reaching for the blankets again. "Snap-!" I pulled back. Glancing at Blue, I tried to tap her shoulder and tell her to control the little monster. "Snap-!"

This time, Silver glared, attempted to bite me, and shook his head. As I moved my hand closer to Blue, he shook his head, warning me to stay away. Seeing Blue sleeping happily (and obliviously), I decided to give up. It wasn't that cold anyways. I turned away.

Thump.

Twisting my head around, I saw the demon child, teeth set in a malicious grin and silver eyes shining evilly. Brat.

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**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed this chapter. As you found out, Ruby and Gold DIDN'T get to share the bed with Sapphire and Crystal. (We'll see if that changes however...*insert evil laughter*) I threw in a bit of Sapphire and Ruby's protective parental instincts, hope you guys find it. Anyways, please review!


	5. Fun Day: Pt 1

Um...hi guys? *crickets, crickets* Well, for those of you who have stuck by and held faith that I would one day return with fics...thank you. And to those who have recently started reading my fics, thanks as well. I apologize for not updating in forever. But I'll keep this short; apologies for not posting in so long and thank you in general to my readers. Please enjoy this chapter and the ones that follow (soon hopefully!). Oh and this chapter contains Crystal & Ruby's P.O.V.s (I'm sorry, I forgot Blue again!).

**Disclaimer**: Pokemon...still is not mine.

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**Normal P.O.V.**

"Good morning children!"

Dead silence. Hesitantly Professor Oak turned, fearing a repeat of yesterday's episode. Instead he was met with a strange sight.

Propped up on her elbows, Crystal was blinking tiredly with bags beneath her eyes; Green was leaning against the wall, eyes closed. Ruby was yawning and continually twisting his neck and both Sapphire and Gold were fast asleep, on the floor and slumped onto a desk respectively.

The only ones who looked truly awake were Blue and the "other" children.

"What happened?" Professor Oak scratched his head in confusion, wearily eyeing the drool puddle coming from Gold's mouth.

Grimacing, Crys elbowed Gold in the ribs, jerking him awake. "Well Professor…"

"I'll tell you what happened!" Awake and annoyed for it, Gold began, "That little, little…DEAMON woke me up last night! And then he wouldn't sleep for a heck of a long time, so I couldn't sleep either!"

There was a moment's pause, broken only by a soft snore from the floor where Sapph was. Emerald crawled over and poked her in the head with little response.

At last, Professor Oak broke into rambunctious laughter, waking Sapph up. "Is that it? And here I was worried that something bad happened…"

"Professor…"

Again Crys was interrupted, this time by Sapph. "Not getting enough sleep isn't bad? Yeah it's not just bad…it's AWFUL!"

Backing away from the grumpy, looming menace that was Sapph, Professor Oak nervously cleared his throat. "What I meant to say is that nothing more drastic occurred. You know, in terms of your young charges. As to the matter of sleep…it's natural! Why, I remember when Green was a baby…"

"Grandpa…"

Professor Oak broke off as Green's eyes opened, flashing dangerously as he scowled at his grandfather. "Mmm, yes," he coughed as the others once again looked curiously at Green. Blue looked especially interested; Green narrowed his eyes causing everyone to look away besides Blue whose smile only grew. "Well, I've actually been asking my colleagues about our situation and unfortunately, they also have no clue."

Loud thuds echoed through the building as nearly everyone (excluding Green and the toddlers) face-planted.

"Then what are we supposed to do Professor?" Crys asked. "I honestly feel like we're not the best people to handle this kind of work; I mean just look at us!" She waved her arm for emphasis at Gold who was giving Rald a noogie for interrupting his attempt to nap.

"Then who would you suggest?" Professor Oak asked gently.

"Well…" Looking at the others for help, Crys was met with blank stares and shrugs.

"My point exactly." Professor Oak sighed. "The thing is, you yourselves said how difficult the circumstances are for each of your young friends." He picked up Silver who glared at the man. Hastily putting him down, he instead picked up Yellow and placed her on his knee. Bouncing her up and down gently, ensuing giggles from the little girl, the professor smiled. "You see? It just takes some time, practice, and patience to become a good guardian."

Ruby cocked his head. "I have to agree with Crys though. We're just not cut out for it though…I mean, we're teens for Latios' sake!"

"Which means all the more practice for the future!" Professor Oak chuckled as blushes rose around the room. "Which leads to my final point; true, you may be teens. But didn't you also win gym badges? And contest ribbons? And defeat evil organizations? But to do so, you depended on your pokemon team. In this "fight," you're going to have to depend on your partner. Work with them and communicate! Understood?"

Fixing a stern glare at Ruby and Sapph who were scowling at one another, the professor repeated, "_Understood_?" Nods of affirmation. "Then good! Now, I want you all to go out and have some fun!"

"Huh?"

"Well, part of the experience of being a parent is enjoying watching your children grow! And how can you do that if you don't play with them? So I want you to each go to somewhere you think is fun and spend time with your charges!"

Crys stepped forward, "What about the lab work?"

Waving his hand, Professor Oak answered, "Bah! The work can wait; you'll experience work alongside with children in the future too! For now, go out and see what it's like to have that rare day off with your kids!"

Slowly, the group picked up the kids and their bags and headed out the door. Professor Oak smiled and stood in the doorway. "Wait!" Everyone turned in confusion. "I want each pair to go to a different place; just to make sure you don't dump your charges on another pair." This last statement he again directed at Ruby and Sapph who exchanged guilty looks at first Crys, each other, then to the ground. "Just have fun…and take pictures!"

Once again, the group headed out.

**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"Well, this should be fun," I sighed, tightening one of my pigtails and glancing around me. Moments after we had left the lab, Blue, Green and Silver had disappeared through the woods, leaving me, Gold, Ruby, Sapph and the remaining toddlers.

I jumped as someone tapped my shoulder. "Hey Crys, so where are we going?"

"Professor Oak said that we need to split up," I replied automatically.

"Yeah, but leaving me with…" Sapph shot a quick glance at Ruby whose attention appeared to be elsewhere, "…that weird guy." She wrinkled her nose before shooting me with puppy eyes that I hadn't even been aware she could use. "You wouldn't do that would you Crys? Would you?!"

Before I could respond, a warm weight rested across my shoulders and a deep voice besides me smoothly intercepted. "'Scuse me ladies," Gold grinned, "Normally I'd be all for rebelling against the instructions of professors and all, but in this case…I think I'll actually listen. So, later!"

With that, Gold grabbed my hand and pulled me away in a mad dash before Sapph or I could comprehend what in Mew's name was going on.

**Normal P.O.V.**

"What the hell just happened?!"

"Sapph, language!" Ruby yelped, hurrying to cover Yellow's ears as Red blinked blankly at them all.

**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"Gold! Stop!" Eventually I managed to free my hand from Gold's vice-like grip. "Why'd we have to leave them so quickly?"

Turning, I saw Gold roll his eyes. "You honestly think if we hadn't made a run for it, they wouldn't have followed us all day?"

"Well…no. But I wouldn't have minded…" Uncomfortably I clenched the hand Gold had taken, feeling the foreign warmth from his palm fading.

"But I would have."

Startled, I looked up at Gold. We were now walking side by side and I belatedly noticed that Emerald was propped up upon Gold's shoulders, swinging his little legs and staring wide-mouthed at the sky.

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully.

Gold turned his head toward me from where he'd been looking up and grinning at Emerald's antics. I felt my breath catch slightly as his eyes caught and held mine. "Nothing much; you ever notice how we never get to hang out one on one?"

I shrugged trying to keep my tone nonchalant. "I guess."

"We're always surrounded by the others, especially the little Hoenn group," he said, reaching up to ruffle Rald's hair, eliciting a laugh from Rald. "It's cool and all, but I never really get to chill with you Super Serious Gal."

Normally I would have bristled at the nickname Gold used, but this time…this time it actually sounded like a term of endearment. But that couldn't be possible; not from Gold… I stayed silent, pondering over what he'd said until his voice broke in again.

"Yo, we're here!"

"W-what?" I stammered. "Wait, we didn't even discuss where we were going!"

Gold snorted. "Who needs to talk about it when we're already here!" He gestured to the building in front of us.

"Barney Bleu?"

**-inside-**

"What is this place?!" I asked, trying (and unfortunately, failing) to keep the alarm out of my voice.

"You've never been to Barney Bleu?" Unlike me, Gold didn't bother to hide the disbelief in his own tone.

"No!" I answered defensively. "But this place looks so…so…crazy!" I gestured beyond the long line snaking in front of us to the noisy room filled with bright colors, floating balloons, screaming children, tired parents, and greasy pizza smells. Wrinkling my nose at the last, I turned to Gold in question.

"Hey now, I like this place! I came here all the time when I was little; it was a big thing back then. Didn't you?"

"No," I repeated, but this time I was fighting to hide the slight quaver in my voice. "My mom was out a lot…I had to grow up quickly."

I kept my focus on the man in front of us, avoiding Gold's gaze. "Hand?" Mechanically I lifted first Rald's tiny fist followed by my own hand for the girl working the line as she stamped us both in.

"It's not gonna kill you ya know?" Gold grinned as he took Rald from my arms and placed him on the ground. I frowned at the cheesy smiling Ratticate caricature stamped on the back of my hand.

"I'm not sure about this…"

Rolling his eyes, Gold grabbed my hand again, pulling my attention away from the stamp and into the frenzy before us. "Just have fun, geez! Or at least let me and Rald have fun Super Serious Gal!"

I sputtered indignantly, but felt my protests die away as we dove into the madness. "What have I gotten myself into?"

**Ruby's P.O.V.**

"So now what?" I sighed.

Sapph shrugged and huffed out, "Beats me! It's probably your fault they left, you and your girly sewing."

"How many times have I told you; sewing isn't girly! Lots of people, male and female do it you know!" I responded.

"It is!"

"Isn't!"

"Is!"

"ISN'T!"

"Waah-!"

Both of us stopped dead as Yellow's crying broke between our arguments. Patting her back with a pudgy hand, Red managed to give us a stern glare (well, a mini glare). Feeling the anger leave me, I turned to Sapph.

"Look, you and I don't get along…but I think we should make an effort not to argue so much," I said. "Like Professor Oak said, we have to work as a team to…" here I blushed, "…to raise a family."

Sapph turned away scowling, but when she answered her tone had softened considerably. "Yeah…"

"Truce?" I asked, offering my hand.

"Truce."

We continued shaking our hands up and down; it felt strange to say the least that Sapph's hand, which looked rough and calloused from her constant tree climbing/vine swinging felt oddly soft.

"Mm?"

Both our heads snapped sideways as we caught Red and Yellow staring at us innocently with their large eyes.

Awkwardly I dropped Sapph's hand and turned away. "Uh…so you have any idea where we should go?"

Sapph coughed, "No…not really." Suddenly, her expression which seemed a little dazed (in my opinion), changed to a large grin. "Actually, I just thought of something! C'mon," she ordered, picking up Yellow and heading towards the opposite direction of where Gold, Crys, Blue, and Green had gone.

"Wait!" I cried out to Sapph's fast disappearing back. Red jabbed my leg impatiently, pointing for me to follow. Picking him up quickly, I obliged. "It's impossible to keep up with her!"

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**A/N**: I hope you enjoyed that! Sorry if it's a little slow; I'm just getting back into the swing of writing, but I'm trying to get the next chapter (which will include Green, Blue and Silver) a.s.a.p. And I mean it! Thank you again to everyone who stuck by and to all my readers in general; special thanks to all my reviewers. You all are my motivation! Please enjoy and review!


	6. Fun Day: Pt2

Hey reader-people! So a huge thank you to all the lovely people who reviewed/stuck by/gave my fic a chance again or for the first time; it was great reading your reviews to the last chapter (some of them were hilarious by the way). Hoping you guys will enjoy this one as much (or more) as the last one; it contains more action/shippiness I think. Oh, and it contains three P.O.V.s: Green, Ruby, and Gold, so it's the boys' turn to talk! Hope you enjoy and review!

**Disclaimer**: Pokemon is not mine...sad times.

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**Green's P.O.V.**

Of all the places in the world I would have expected Blue to label "fun," this was definitely not high on the list.

A playground.

"Are you planning to stand there like a dazed Tauros all day?"

I shifted my gaze toward Blue and narrowed my eyes into a glare. Unlike the majority of the world, she didn't seem fazed at all; on the contrary, she looked amused.

"What's wrong? You don't like playgrounds?" she said challengingly, hands on her hips.

Realizing I was staring just a little too long, I turned my head. "No, they're fine. I haven't been to one in years though."

Blue nodded. Turning back to Silver (who had been standing quietly next to her) she asked, "What do you wanna do first Silver?"

He merely blinked at her. From his expression, I could sense uneasiness. Blue noticed it quickly too.

"We don't have to go on anything yet…we can just sit here for a while," she said, picking him up.

Silver shook his head and motioned toward the slide. "Okay, let's go!" Blue said cheerfully. Immediately however, Silver shook his head.

"I think he wants to go by himself," I said.

Blue looked confused. "Why?" Silver meanwhile gave me a grateful look (albeit unwillingly).

I rolled my own eyes. "You've never been a kid? Nothing's more embarrassing than having your guardian hovering over you like a mother pidgey."

"Okay…well, have fun Silver; and come back or call if you need anything!" Blue gave him a tight hug and released him reluctantly.

Silently we headed for a large tree and sat down in the shade. I noticed Blue glancing pretty frequently at Silver with an anxious gleam in her eyes.

"He's just playing you know." From where we were, we had a clear view of Silver who had become acquainted with a small group of children. They were playing tag and although Silver looked a little confused to start with, gradually his face took on a happy grin.

"I know…" Blue's voice trailed off. She sighed, flopping backwards, causing her hair to fan out behind her. She closed her eyes, but I could see a small wrinkle of unease next to her brow; I stayed quiet, waiting for her to talk.

As it was Blue, I didn't have to wait long. Within a minute, she had flipped over onto her stomach. I averted my eyes as her shirt dipped slightly.

"I can't help worrying about Silver," she announced, blinking her big eyes at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "I told you, he's a kid playing with other kids. He'll be fine." She rolled her eyes.

"Not just now. I'm talking about even when he's regular sized and aged." She took a quick glance back at Silver and her face softened. "I love him like a brother and that's why I worry about him."

A strange feeling kicked up in my gut when Blue had said "love" but it faded at the word "brother." I decided to ignore it for now and focus on the problem at hand. "What's there to worry about? The whole Team Rocket thing? It's over and done with; if anything, those experiences have made Silver and his team stronger."

She glared at me. "I know that obviously! I'm talking about girls!"

I blinked blankly at her. _When had the subject changed without me noticing…_

"Ugh-! Really, you haven't noticed?"

I decided that silence was the best answer at this point.

Blue began to pick at little blades of grass, tearing them violently in half. "I'm so worried that Silver won't find a girlfriend (I did a mental face-palm), because all he ever notices are our friends, his pokémon, or especially worrying about me!"

_She really sounds like a mother worrying over her kid's romantic future… _ I glanced at Blue and unfortunately met her eyes. Even worse, she took my look in a negative manner.

"You think I can't take care of myself?" she said accusingly.

I shook my head. "No." Blue looked somewhat appeased. "But why would it matter if Silver has or doesn't have (I blanched inwardly)…a girlfriend?"

"I don't want him to be alone forever!" Blue said, pulling up more grass.

"…Our group isn't enough to keep him company?"

Blue rolled her eyes. "Everyone needs a partner in life damn it Green; and everyone in our group has found their special person, besides Silver or Emerald. And Emerald doesn't count because he's too young."

I decided it wasn't the best time to remind Blue that Emerald was the same age as Ruby and Sapphire; I'd learned early on not to stop Blue in rant mode.

"Special person…" I mused aloud.

"Yeah," Blue sighed. She took it as a question. "Red has Yellow, Gold has Crys, Ruby has Sapph, and…" She broke off suddenly and I stared at her.

"…and?" I said quietly.

Blue's face had turned a faint crimson. "And nothing." She peeked at me and looked away just as quickly. "Anyways, the subject was Silver, so don't change the topic."

I sighed. Typical Blue to dance around situations at hand. "Shouldn't we be thinking about trying to return Silver and the others to normal age…before you try and set him up?"

Blue wrinkled her nose and said in a frustrated tone, "It's never too early."

"Why a playground?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Anything would be better than being roped into Blue's matchmaking schemes.

Luckily she took the bait. "Huh? Oh, it's because I never really had many opportunities to go to one. And Silver had even less." Her expression darkened and I felt a twinge of guilt.

"…Sorry," I muttered.

Blue turned with a surprised look. "What for? You weren't the one who kidnapped Silver and I; I'm just grateful we made it out alive." She startled me by giggling. "And now Silver has a chance to relive his childhood. Funny isn't it?"

Her enthusiasm caused me to smile slightly. "Yeah…I guess."

"And you?"

I tilted my head in question, causing Blue to roll her eyes. "Didn't you go to playgrounds when you were little?"

I shrugged. "Daisy took me once in a while, but I don't remember too much; Grandpa sent me to Chuck's pretty early on. After that it was mainly training."

"That seems kinda…sad," Blue mused. Just as quickly as before however, her mood shifted and she smiled. "I betchu you were cute back then too!"

Cute? I grimaced at the idea of being "cute" in any way shape or form; that is, until I realized Blue's final words: "back then too." Did that mean…?

Looking carefully at Blue I could see the same thought had come into her mind. She froze for a split second and then glanced at me with an awkward grin. "Um…what I meant was…"

Before she could speak, a new voice broke in.

"Excuse me; are you the guardians of this child?"

Immediately we both turned and found ourselves facing a girl about Silver's age (when he was normal of course). She reminded me quite a bit of Crystal due to the pigtails that held her hair back, but that was where the similarities ended. She was wearing overalls with a red shirt and sporting a large white hat with a pink ribbon tied around it.

Following the surprise of this random girl was the shock of seeing Silver who was being held by said girl. What's more, he was sporting a large scrape on his right knee.

"Silver!" Blue's voice hit a high note of anxiety as she rushed forward. I quickly stood and followed.

"What happened?" she asked, hastily taking him from the girl's arms.

The girl gave us a placating look. "It wasn't really anything I think; the kids were playing and your son fell."

I winced at the word "son" and the girl noticed.

"Oh I'm sorry!" she yelped. "Um…he's not your son?" She looked at Blue who was crooning comfortingly to Silver in tones I didn't even know Blue was capable of, and then glanced back at me questioningly. I supposed it was fairly obvious based on physical appearances that we weren't Silver's parents.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a small headache growing. "He's not our son…"

"He's a family friend!" Blue piped in. Finished with comforting Silver (which really had been a non-issue as he had remained stoic-faced this whole time), she was regarding the girl with interest.

The girl nodded. "Well, I'm glad to see he's ok; he's such a cute kid!" She reached over and ruffled Silver's hair.

I was surprised that Silver didn't react negatively; on the contrary, he even offered her a slight smile.

"Yeah…" Warily, I noticed Blue's tone take on a devious note. From a quick glimpse, I could see the edges of her mouth turn up in an echo of said devious note. "So what's your name?"

"I'm Soul," the girl said, smiling.

"That's a nice name," Blue answered. "Do you come to this park often?"

I shook my head at Blue's nosiness but Soul didn't seem to notice. "Yeah, I actually come here every day pretty much. I have a lot of free time."

"_Really_?" Blue's grin widened. "No boyfriend or anything to occupy your time?"

Here Soul blushed. "Uh…n-no. Not at all!"

Blue giggled. "I'm just teasing you! But really, thank you for taking care of our friend for us; we have to go now! Bye!"

In a flash, Blue had grabbed my hand and tugged me away, leaving Soul with a confused and somewhat shell-shocked expression. When we were safely hidden behind some tall bushes, Blue let go.

"…What was that?"

Blue smiled, putting Silver down gently and rolling up his pant leg to check on the wound. With a slight tsk-ing sound, she began rummaging around her bag.

"What was that?" I repeated.

"What was what?" Blue asked back innocently. She was dabbing some disinfect on Silver's scrape. The kid really was kind of amazing; it must've stung pretty badly, but his expression barely shifted.

I rolled my eyes impatiently. "You interrogating that girl…?"

"Oh that!" She swiped one last time at the wound. "Just getting some background information."

"For what exactly?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

Blue tossed her hair and looked at me through half-lidded eyes. "Do you really want to know?"

I stayed quiet and in the silence, Blue neatly bandaged Silver's scrape. "There! All better." She picked him up and placed a kiss on top of his head.

"I'm surprised she actually answered all those questions…" I muttered.

Across from me, Blue picked up Silver and balanced him with an air of experience. She mock-sighed. "That girl has no idea of the problems of stranger-danger! She needs a guy to watch out for her!"

I blinked. "And that guy would be…" My eyes flicked toward Silver, who was staring off into the distance, then widened. "…Silver?"

Blue smirked. "Maybe…maybe not! You'll see!" she said in a sing-song tone. "Now come on, let's get some ice cream; Silver needs some."

From the look on Silver's face, I highly doubted he _needed_ ice cream, but it seemed a small price to pay to keep Blue happy. At least that was one thing Silver and I held in common…

****** I.T.T.R.F**

**Ruby's P.O.V.**

"Where did that girl go?" I sighed, pushing aside a branch that flew back at me immediately. I dodged reflexively, making sure that Red was safely out of harm's way.

He cocked his head curiously.

"I swear, all I want to do is protect her but how in Lugia's name am I supposed to do that when she's always running off?" I continued to mutter, half to myself and half to Red. It was nice having an audience for once, albeit a rather small-ish, quiet audience of one.

"Ye-wo."

I blinked, almost dropping Red in shock. It was his first word (not counting the one from the video before since we couldn't actually say we heard him speak in person).

Emerging from the forest onto a beach, I could see Yellow seated on the sand, quietly patting it into little mounds. I rushed over and grabbed her hand, at the same time looking around for Sapph.

"What took you so long?" she snapped, appearing out of nowhere.

"What do you mean what took me so long?!" I shouted. "You were the one who went off and left Yellow here."

She rolled her eyes. "If you weren't so blind without your glasses, you would have noticed I was right over there." Sapph pointed to our right but all I could see was a mess of vines covering a rocky cliff wall.

"Huh?" As if mirroring my thoughts, Red scratched his head.

Once again, Sapph rolled her eyes. Stomping over to the wall, she pushed aside the vines, revealing a gaping entrance to a cave.

"Is that your secret base?"

Sapph nodded and I approached. "Can I go in?" Regarding me with a somewhat suspicious look, she nodded again.

I entered with Red still in my arms and Sapph followed, carrying Yellow. The inside of the base looked much bigger than the entrance appeared, stretching farther than my eye could see. It was cool and dim, especially when the vines covering the entrance fell back in place; small rocks were scattered here and there, but besides that, the place was mostly empty.

It seemed like Sapph could tell what I was thinking because she jutted her chin forward, baiting me to comment on her base.

"Er…it's really roomy here," I offered. Sapph narrowed her eyes at my comment and I hurriedly added, "Yeah, you missed Red's first word!"

"Eh?! He actually said something?!" she yelped in surprise.

I nodded, grabbing Red from where he sat beside Yellow and held in front of me like a meat-shield. "Say it again Red!"

Red blinked.

Sapph's glare deepened. "Yeah, sounds like he's a genius all right," she snorted. Picking up Yellow, she started for the entrance. "If you're done, I'm going now."

"Ye-wo."

Sapph turned and I looked down at Red in astonishment. "Did he just…?"

I nodded and Sapph dashed over, still holding Yellow. "Say it again Red," I prompted. Red looked confusedly at us, but this time actually obliged.

"Ye-wo," he said, straining forward toward the girl in Sapph's arms. She too was reaching for Red. Sapph put her down and I placed Red next to her.

"I wonder if Yellow will start talking soon too," I muttered, observing the two toddlers playing. "Probably not though since she's a year younger than Red…"

I winced when a sharp rap hit my shoulder; turning, I realized Sapph had punched me. "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "You idiot! Can't you be happy that Red actually said his first word?"

I crossed my arms. "_Technically_ he said his first word before with me; this would be his second word."

Sapph glared. "That one doesn't count 'cause I wasn't there."

"Does so."

"Does not."

"Does so."

The ominous sound of sniffling broke apart our argument and both of us looked at Yellow nervously. Her eyes had started watering as she looked anxiously at both of us.

"Sorry," Sapph sighed, scooping up Yellow. I was surprised to see how naturally she held Yellow and Sapph caught my eye. "Yes?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. Fine, Red's first word was Yellow, regardless of when he said it." Actually saying this made me smile.

"What are you laughing about?"

I shook my head again. "Can you imagine what they would say if we told them all of this? If we can get them changed back to normal I mean," I said, gesturing at the toddlers.

Sapph barked out a short laugh. "That'd be hilarious. I betchu Red would be denying it and Yellow would be blushing like a Tamato berry."

"Well, at least then they could say they were childhood sweethearts," I added, expecting another bout of laughter.

Instead, Sapph stopped and her brow furrowed. An almost gloomy expression replaced the amusement from before as she looked at Red and Yellow.

I paused for a second, trying to comprehend her look. "What's wrong?" I finally asked.

"Nothing," Sapph replied quickly. "I was just thinking about something…" She looked up and stared at me, looking like she was trying to figure out something.

Strangely, I couldn't tear my own gaze away to save my life and it was at that moment that I felt something stir in the back of my mind…

"_I don't get to make a lot of friends," I said._

_The girl next to me nodded. I couldn't make out her facial features, but her voice was slightly sad, yet familiar. "Me too. My daddy is always moving around, so I don't get many chances to."_

_I nodded; my dad was also the reason why I didn't have many friends. Being the son of a Gym leader in-training meant most kids were afraid to even come near my house. "Hey, wanna be friends?" I offered, turning back to the girl._

"_Really?" Her voice took on a note of joy. "Okay; promise?" She stuck out her hand, with the pinky stretched forward._

"_Yeah, friends for life!" I agreed, hooking my pinky with hers and shaking._

"Ruby!"

I startled as Sapph's voice echoed throughout the cave. "Yes?" I said, rubbing my ear.

She quirked a brow. "You spaced out randomly, any reason?"

"Not really," I muttered, rubbing my scar and trying to push the memories to the back of my mind. Sapph didn't look like she was buying it so I shifted the attention away from me. "So Professor Oak said we were supposed to take the kids to do something fun, what were you thinking?"

"Oh that," Sapph said. She grinned widely. "Swimming!"

"What?! They're too small," I protested.

Sapph waved a hand dismissively and went over to where Red was trying to grab fistfuls of pebbles for Yellow who was simply sitting there, surrounded by said pebbles. Reaching around the pair, she produced…floaties and inner tubes?

"My dad gave them to me a loooong time ago," she explained. "I've had this base for years, ever since I was super young and my dad was worried I couldn't swim." She snorted. "I was swimming like a Goldeen pretty much as soon as I hit the water."

I picked up one of the tubes and checked it for any tears, surprisingly there weren't any. "I think it's a natural response."

"What is?"

I shrugged, checking the second one which also turned out to be in perfect condition. "To want your kids to be safe I think is a normal concern for parents." I cocked my head. "Don't you?"

"I guess…" Sapph seemed to consider this then turned her head. "So let's go!"

Before I could move, she had her hands on the waistline of her shirt, about to pull it over her head.

"Wait!" I shouted. She, Red, and Yellow all turned to look at me. I felt my face heat up. "What are you doing…?" I struggled to say, feeling like I had been punched in the gut by Sapph's random action.

"Taking off my shirt obviously…?"

"Why?" My face was getting redder, I could tell.

"'cause we're going to be swimming," Sapph answered. She paused, suddenly blushing furiously. "I have something under this you know!"

From the bare patch of skin I had accidently seen, I could guess that Sapph wasn't simply wearing a one-piece. "Can't you just keep that outfit on?! It's water-proof you know."

Sapph had been opening her mouth to protest, but stopped. "Really? It's waterproof?"

"Yeah," I nodded frantically. "I made it from special material 'cause I thought you'd be doing stuff running around in Mew knows where."

She looked surprised. "You made this especially for me?" Sapph plucked at the material uncertainly.

"Uh…yeah," I scratched the back of my head. "It wasn't a big deal or anything…"

"Oh, ok." Sapph went over and picked up Red this time. "Do you have anything they can wear?"

Coincidentally enough I did; from a leftover summer Contest, I had made multiple swimsuit outfits for pokémon which fit Yellow and Red perfectly after we had dressed them.

"Done," I said, stepping back triumphantly. Sapph perked up.

"We can go now? Finally?"

I nodded, "Yup."

She scooped up Red again and motioned for me to get Yellow. "Let's go!" she yelled, running out the cave.

I followed more slowly, muttering to Yellow. "She is really quite interesting…"

Yellow simply blinked.

**-back at the beach-**

Setting Yellow down carefully on the sand I scanned the area for Sapph and Red. "Where did she go…"

"Cannonball!"

From out of nowhere, the huge blue head of a Wailord rose out of the sea, atop it Sapph. She leaped off the Wailord, flipped gracefully through the air and dove into the water, splashing both Yellow and I effectively.

Popping out, she grinned toothily at us. Anxiously, I turned toward Yellow, afraid she'd start crying…

"Hehehe…" Yellow began giggling, despite being soaked head to toe with water.

"See, even she likes the water."

I turned furiously at Sapph who had stepped out of the water and was shaking off droplets of water. I ignored the feelings that arose from seeing her clothes cling onto her in certain areas, focusing on the anxiety I had felt before.

"You couldn't have warned us beforehand?" I snapped.

Sapph shrugged. "The point was to surprise you!" She picked up Yellow. "Yellow enjoyed it."

I had to agree grudgingly. "Where's Red?"

She pointed behind her. "Walo is watching him." Now I could make out the small figure of Red besides the giant whale pokemon; even though I knew Walo was only watching Red, it was somewhat unnerving having a Wailord next to tiny Red.

"You planning on going in any time soon?"

I looked at Sapph, then downward at my soaked shirt. "When I said your outfit was okay to get wet, I didn't mean that mine was."

"Really? Sorry then." From her tone, I could tell Sapph was simply amused over my concern of my own outfit.

"Well, the pants are waterproof, but this shirt…" I pulled at it and shuddered.

"So just take it off," Sapph said, rolling her eyes. "You're a guy aren't you?"

I narrowed my eyes at her implication and without really thinking about it, pulled off my shirt.

"What are you doing?!" Sapph shrieked, suddenly turning away.

I blinked, still holding my shirt in confusion. "Taking off my shirt…like you told me to?"

"I didn't say to do it in front of me!" she snapped. "Latias!" She still wouldn't directly face me, but I could hear the mortification in her tone.

"Sorry," I mumbled. I hurriedly laid out my shirt onto a large rock located conveniently nearby. "Uh…ready to go?"

Sapph nodded, still holding Yellow. "Yeah, I don't wanna leave Red out there too long," she said curtly. She began walking toward the sea, looking back once. "Coming?"

"Oh, yeah." I wondered why Sapph was acting so weird, but that last glance back…I noticed Sapph's face had turned light pink. Was she embarrassed? Still pondering my thoughts, I jogged into the water to join the others.

**-after swimming-**

"That was fun," I sighed, sinking down onto the sandy beach. Beside me, Sapph slowly sat down as well.

She nodded. "Yeah…"

Turning to the left, I checked to make sure that Red and Yellow were okay; after playing in the water for a few hours, they had begun to tire so we took them out and placed them onto a large towel that was conveniently in the base. Lying under the shade provided by the cliffs, both toddlers were snoozing peacefully. Seeing how closely they lay, I couldn't help but smile.

As I turned back around, I glimpsed Sapph's face looking away from me.

"What?" I asked curiously. She had been fine when we were playing in the water, but it seemed like as soon as we got out, Sapph refused to even look at me.

"Nothing!" Sapph huffed. I noticed her eyes flicker at me for a second before she said, "Can't you put your shirt back on already?!"

I blinked. Reaching over, I grabbed my shirt from the rock and held it out, grimacing. It was completely wrinkled from the water and sun treatment it had faced for the past hours.

"Well?"

"It's still…crumpled," I muttered.

Sapph rolled her eyes. "And?"

I shrugged. "I don't want to wear it like this; it looks horrible!" Turning to Sapph I continued, "Why's it even matter anyways? You were the one who told me to take it off before."

"That was when we were in the water!" Sapph snapped. "Just keep your shirt on when we're not in the water ok?"

Since it seemed like a big deal, I quickly pulled it on, but I couldn't help asking, "Was it bothering you? Me being shirtless?"

Astoundingly Sapph's face took on a light blush. Her voice was rough when she spoke. "I'm just not used to seeing guys shirtless ok? It's…weird." She wrinkled her nose in emphasis.

"And yet you swing around forests practically barely clothed yourself…" I muttered.

Sapph glared at me, but kept quiet and looked away instead. An awkward silence fell on us. The last topic had me wondering at Sapph's behavior…and as I peeked over, I noticed how the residual water still caused her clothes to cling to her body in certain places.

I took a deep breath. _Now_ I could kind of understand what Sapph was feeling. Taking another deep breath and pushing out the thoughts accompanying said feeling, I decided to try and break the tense silence.

"So…"

Immediately, Sapph looked at me with a curious gleam in her eye. I paused.

"…You think Red and the others will remember what happened when we get them back to normal?"

The gleam faded and was replaced by…disappointment. "I guess," Sapph sighed. Her tone lightened. "I think it's important for people to have memories, especially from their childhood."

"Yeah," I agreed. The weird pulse went through my head again and I involuntarily put my hand over my scar.

Sapph noticed and as she looked toward me, I could see the glint was back again.

"What's wrong?"

I shook my head. "Nothing, just a slight headache."

"You sure?" Sapph leaned over and reached toward my hat. "Let me see." I could feel the Sapph's presence and the accompanying tension rise up again as she moved closer…

"Ye-wo!"

Both Sapph and I turned automatically at Red's cry, just in time to see a Wingull swoop down toward the kids. Luckily, his shout had also startled the Pokemon which flew away. Unfortunately Yellow had also woken up and began crying.

Sapph instantly stood up and went to the two. At the same time, the tension that I had felt from before dissipated.

"It's ok Yellow," Sapph said soothingly.

I smiled slightly; it hadn't seemed possible before to even think that Sapph had a gentle "setting" per say.

"Hey!" I turned. "I'm going to head back to the base; we should probably head back soon."

I nodded as Sapph began walking with Yellow in her arms. Sighing, I stood up and headed towards Red, still thinking about the day's events, especially Sapph's strange reactions towards me. Impulsively I called out to her, "Hey."

Sapph looked over her shoulder and raised a brow in question.

"Uh…today was really fun," I said lamely. "This place is really nice…"

Surprisingly Sapph gave me her toothy grin. "Yeah it is!" She seemed to pause for just a second. "If you want, maybe we can come back another time…?"

Smiling back, I nodded and Sapph's grin widened before she started off again. Squinting, I thought I could make out a faint blush on her face. Still smiling I picked up Red. "I don't even know what to think anymore," I sighed.

"Ye-wo."

"Yup, I know that's who you're thinking about," I laughed, ruffling his hair and causing Red to give me a mini-glare. Still laughing, I headed back to the base.

****** I.T.T.R.F**

**Gold's P.O.V.**

"Rald, be careful! No, don't jump!"

"Relax Super-serious Gal," I said. Crys turned with an angry gleam in her eyes.

"Relax? How can I relax when you bring Rald into this madhouse?" she exclaimed, waving her hands around for emphasis.

It was a bit hectic in there; kids running, screaming, jumping, laughing, crying, etc. With the addition of the strobe lights flashing and the badly tuned records playing in the background, I had to admit Crys had a bit of a point.

Still I shrugged, knowing it would rile her up.

"Well?!" she snapped. I grinned.

"You're cute when you're angry."

Crys's mouth snapped shut as her face flushed. "T-that's beyond the point! Just tell me why in Latios's name you decided to come here?"

Hopping off the seat I'd been perched on, I walked toward the play area where Rald was and Crys followed. "It might seem crazy here, but just look." Crys did and I continued. "The kids _are_ having fun."

I could see that Crys could tell from the kid's expressions that they were having a great time, but she still seemed wary.

"I certainly wasn't raised in a place like this…"

Glancing down at her, I could see the same subdued expression that had appeared when we arrived, re-emerge on Crys's face.

"Then what kind of place were you raised in?" I asked. Now that I thought about it, despite knowing Crys for a number of years, I'd rarely ever heard anything about her family.

She sighed and shrugged, sitting down on one of the benches lined along the play area. I slid next to her and waited

"I don't remember my dad," Crys started. Her tone was even, but she stared straight ahead as she talked. "It was my mother who raised me and because she was supporting both of us, I never came to places like this to just have fun."

"So your mom was busy I take it?"

Crys nodded. "She was working from morning till practically night. Mom dropped me off at school and then I'd stay at a daycare afterschool." She shuddered. "The daycare I was at wasn't fun at all; the workers were there for the pay so they didn't really care whether we kids were having fun or not."

Thinking about the love and attention my mom gave me back then (and even now), I frowned. "Didn't you tell your mom?"

"I couldn't!" Crys grimaced. "I knew that she was working to earn money for us. If I'd told her, she'd immediately stop and place me first; she's impulsive like that. It wouldn't have been right."

I nodded slowly. "And your dad?" I asked lightly.

Crys's expression darkened. "He left my mom and me. It was his fault she had to work all the time. That's why I got my job at Mr. Earl's to let my mom have some free time and so that I could make sure the kids there didn't have to go through what I did."

"You know, that's really cool of you," I said. Crys looked at me, startled. "Working and all that; even with all the crap that happened early on, you're still fighting; it's admirable."

"Not really…" Crys said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "We should check on Rald." She stood up and hurried into the play area and I followed, bemused.

"Rald? Oh my Mew, where did he go?"

I stepped up the pace as I heard Crys's tone become higher with anxiety. Skimming the area, I couldn't make out the familiar blond head of Emerald.

"Where is he?" Crys was wringing her hands as she peered left and right for the tiny kid.

I squinted. "Over there!"

Both of us rushed to the ball pool where I could just make out the blond head of Emerald poking up above the plastic balls. He was bobbing up and sinking down rhythmically. Due to his small size though, I could see that the pool was a little too deep for him.

"Rald!"

Crys immediately dove into the pool and swam-walked over to him. When she reached him, she pulled him into her arms, soothing the kid who by this point was crying from the shock that only colorful plastic balls can provoke.

Crys trudged back over to the pool's entrance where I was waiting. "Here," she said, holding Rald out to me.

I took him from Crys and patted his back. Rald hiccupped and sniffed, but otherwise seemed none the worse from his adventure. Placing him down, I offered by hand to Crys who was having a bit of trouble getting out of the pool.

"Thanks." With a little skip, she managed to detangle herself from the quicksand-like ball pool, spilling a few of said balls out of the pool.

I stepped back as she stepped forward; as we did, I accidently stepped on one of the balls that had fallen out.

"Whoa-!"

I fell backwards, hitting my head on the floor hard and Crys followed suit. Luckily, her fall was broken, by my body, and both of us stayed there for a second, completely winded.

"Ow…"

"Hey, you're not the one who hit the ground," I moaned.

"Ah-!" Crys pushed herself off of me (I was kind of regretting speaking now). "Sorry."

Rubbing the back of my head, I shrugged. "It's no big deal, I've had worse remember?"

Crys giggled and stood up. "You are pretty reckless." She held out her hand. "Do you need help?"

Taking it, I let her pull me up, but I intentionally came closer to her, letting the tips of our noses brush. "Thanks!"

She stepped back, cheeks turning a bright pink hue. "Don't do that!" she yelped. Turning away she said, "What will people think…"

"That you fall for me, literally?" I offered. Picking up Rald, I said. "Isn't that right kid?"

I nodded furiously and Rald imitated me, nodding his little head as well as clapping his tiny hands together.

"I can't believe you're on his side!" Crys exclaimed to Rald. She frowned slightly. "I pretty much raised you."

"He can't help it if it's true," I retorted, grinning widely, and then crossing my eyes at Rald.

He giggled and the frown on Crys's face melted. A smile replaced it and my own grin grew at the sight of Crys's happiness over Rald. Before I could say anything more, a sudden noise interrupted.

"Ring-ring! Ring-ring!"

"My Pokegear!" Crys cried out, rushing to her bag and pulling it out. I stood silently as she answered it.

"Yes, we're almost done. What? Really?! Okay professor, we'll be back soon!" Crys hung up with a startled expression in her wide eyes.

"What happened?" I asked.

Crys blinked. "Professor Oak said he might have a cure for Rald and the other's dilemma!"

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**A/N: **Ooo, what's going to happen next? Guess you'll have to see in the next chapter (which I hope won't take too long to write). So all the couples are progressing and Soul has been introduced! Please stick around for the next update and as usual, please review!


	7. A Cure?

Hi guys, so last chapter, Professor Oak came up with a possible cure; any ideas what it'll be? Well, you're about to find out! I'll leave you with that along with a brief note that there are two P.O.V.s: Crystal and Green's. Lastly, thank you to everyone who read and especially those who reviewed! Thank you!

**Disclaimer**: No siree, Pokemon is not mine

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**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"So the cure to all this is…"

"…More legendary pokemon interference," Professor Oak nodded. "Precisely."

Ruby narrowed his eyes. "How exactly did you come to this conclusion again Professor?"

Professor Oak sighed and sat down heavily in his rolling chair, doing a half-turn before stopping to stare at us seriously. "Well it's not just me obviously. I've been conferring with my colleagues from various regions and we believe that because our current "issue" was caused by a legendary, the best "solution" would be found in the legendaries."

"Doesn't that seem a little _too_ over-simplified?" I asked. After all with the chaos from our last legendary encounter I had no desire for any more unwanted surprises to happen, nor did I want any harm to come to Rald and the other children.

The professor sighed, scratching his chin. "Perhaps. But with no other leads we're going with the best hypothesis we have."

"Okay…so what exactly are we supposed to do with these legendaries?" Sapph said. She was holding up Yellow who was already nodding off with a cute expression on her face.

"Well, what I and the other professors believe is that the best (and most direct) solution to the problem is for you to go find the legendaries and…" Professor Oak stopped. "…and that's all we've got!"

All of us stared at him in disbelief. "Really?! That's it?" Sapph cried.

Professor Oak scratched the back of his head nervously. "Well, what happens after you find them is the part we're not entirely certain about."

"Grandpa, that seems a little risky," Green said quietly.

The professor sighed. "I know, I know. Still, each and every one of you (including the children) has been able to connect with various legendaries across multiple regions. I have faith that if you state your case to them they'll probably help you."

"And if they decide to destroy us instead?" Gold asked, half-seriously.

"…Then I have faith you're all strong enough to protect yourself and your young charges," Professor Oak said, patting Rald's head. Rald blinked at him, grabbed his hand then bit down…hard.

"Ouch-!"

"Sorry, sorry," I yelped, reaching over and snatching Rald from the floor. He snuggled into my neck, blinking innocently over my shoulder. "He's been teething."

Professor Oak looked up from blowing his bitten hand. "Hm, well at least that shows that there's actually growth progression in our little friends."

"How long do you estimate it would take for them to simply grow back to their proper ages?" I asked. Maybe if we simply waited, our friends would return to normal without us having to go on this wild goose chase.

"Let's see…" The professor scribbled something on a piece of paper and tapped a few numbers on a calculator, scribbled some more, and then spun back around. "From my calculations…seven years?"

My jaw dropped. "Really?"

Professor Oak nodded. "And that's actually a more positive estimate. Realistically, there's a higher chance it could take even longer. Would you prefer to wait it out and test that theory?"

"No." Green and Gold said simultaneously. Glancing over, I stifled a laugh. Gold's hand was now being gnawed by Rald who had slipped down from my grasp while Green and Silver were once again, glaring at each other.

"Then shall we try the hypothesis we professors have formed?"

Glancing at each other nervously, we all nodded slowly.

"Good." Professor Oak flipped open a thick book, motioning for us to gather around. "From the information I've gathered over these past days, I've come to the conclusion that there are three best possibilities in aiding the return of your friends."

Looking down at the page Professor Oak was pointing at, I said, "Jirachi."

Professor Oak flipped a page. "Mew?" Blue asked; Professor Oak nodded and flipped to a third page.

"And Celebi obviously," he said. Staring at us seriously, Professor Oak continued. "I know that this isn't the most ideal solution to your and your friend's problem, but it's the best we have currently."

"…We understand Professor," I said. Again, the others nodded their agreement.

Professor Oak sighed in relief. "Now that you guys are on board with the idea and know which pokemon we're searching for I thought we could break it down further." Seeing the confusion on our faces, he quickly explained. "Every pair will search for one of the legendaries, that way we'll be able to save more time and effort rather than wasting it in one huge group effort."

"Do we get to choose?" Gold spoke up excitedly.

"No." Gold sighed, looking dejected. "Because I have already chosen for each pair," Professor Oak said. "And," he continued, seeing Gold and Sapph's mouths open to protest. "I have specific reasons for my choices."

Flipping back to the first page, Professor Oak pointed to the pokemon. "Crys, Gold, and Emerald, you will be looking for Jirachi."

Gold and I glanced at one another. "But professor…" I started. "How is that possible? Jirachi isn't supposed to wake for another thousand years since the last time he was awake was when he freed our seniors as Rald's wish."

Professor Oak sighed. "I know it's a bit of a stretch but like you said, Rald personally had contact with this pokemon which I believe will be an asset in this case. Even if you can't wake Jirachi, it's worth looking into any leads of pokemon with similar power that Jirachi possesses. The ability to grant wishes specifically."

"Guess it kinda makes sense?" Gold said, scratching his head.

"Oh, I forgot!" Professor Oak said. Hurriedly, he shoved some papers aside and fished out three folders. He took the pastel yellow one from its companions and handed it to me. "This contains all the info I've gathered on Jirachi; it includes its stats, known abilities, locations it's been spotted in, etc."

"Okay, okay, now what about us?" Sapph asked impatiently. Behind her, I noticed Ruby shake his head.

"I was just getting to you!" Professor Oak said, glancing nervously at Sapph who was tapping her foot edgily. He quickly turned to the next page while handing Ruby the mint green folder.

"Celebi?" Ruby looked at the professor questioningly.

Professor Oak nodded. "As the initiator of our little "problem," I'm pretty sure Celebi can also be the solution to it. Plus, since you two have two charges (here he nodded at Red and Yellow), I'd say you need the most immediate solution."

Blue stepped forward with a slightly worried expression. "You sure about this professor? After all, we did see Celebi disintegrate a huge boulder into a pile of dust."

Both Ruby and Sapph blanched a little at this and Professor Oak noticed.

"Again, it's a risk, but I think there's a high possibility it will pull off." He paused. "And I think your group has had some type of experience with Celebi in the past…" The look he gave Ruby was significant, but Ruby didn't seem to notice.

"That leaves us with Mew," Green said. He raised his eyebrows at his grandfather. "Why Mew?"

"Why not?" the professor countered. "This whole operation really is a chance solution with no guarantees; I'd say with the powers Mew is rumored to possess, there's a greater chance that it can help us in this case than any other pokemon." He glanced at the rest of us. "Besides Celebi and Jirachi of course."

Peering into the folder, Gold snatched out and waved it around. "What's this?"

"Oh yes, I almost forgot," the professor laughed. "Obviously Jirachi and Celebi are not native to the Kanto region. Those are ferry tickets to Hoenn and Johto respectively." He clicked on his computer, enlarging maps of both. "Jirachi should still be in Hoenn; Celebi meanwhile has been sighted back in Ilex Forest, why it was even here in Kanto is still a mystery…"

"And this?" I asked, pulling out another strip of sturdy paper.

Professor Oak squinted at it then snapped his fingers. "Ah, that's a ticket for the car rental."

"Car rental?" Gold and I said simultaneously. Green raised a brow.

"Well, you'll be needing some form of transportation to get around the region so I've contacted Silph Co. and thankfully, they're allowing each pair to rent out one of their vehicles."

"Why can't we just use our pokemon?" Sapph asked.

Professor Oak picked up Red who had been crawling near his feet. "Up you go!" he cried, laughing. "Oh right; you'll need real vehicles because of these guys. It's simply not safe to just use Fly or ride your pokemon with toddlers in tow."

Glancing at the ferry tickets, I let out a yelp. "Professor, the ferry leaves in an hour!"

"Hmm?" Professor Oak blinked. "I forgot," he said, causing us to glare at him. Shrinking back a little, he added, "Then you, Gold, Sapph, and Ruby had better leave quickly. There's a bus leaving in five minutes that goes straight to the Vermillion Ferry Terminal; if you hurry, you'll make it."

We nodded and grabbed our things and the children then headed for the door.

"Blue, Green, actually could you two stay back just for a second?" Professor Oak called out.

Glancing at the professor curiously, the two nodded. As the door shut behind us, I could see Professor Oak's expression become more serious.

"Hey Super Serious Gal, hurry up! The bus is here!"

"Ah-! Coming!" I yelled, running as the bus screeched up to the stop.

**Green's P.O.V.**

"What's up Professor?" Blue said easily, throwing herself into an empty rolling chair that moved back a few paces, nearly bumping into me. I glared down at Blue who threw me a mischievous smile.

"Yes," grandfather said, picking up his mug and taking a sip. Carefully he set it down and looked at both of us. "Have you two been following the news recently?"

I nodded and was mildly surprised that Blue nodded too.

"Good. What have you two heard about Team Rocket lately?"

"Nothing really…" Blue looked at me with a questioning gaze. I shrugged at Grandpa, indicating that I too hadn't heard anything unusual.

"Haven't you found that a little odd?" Grandfather looked back and forth at us before his eyes shifted downward toward Silver.

Blue noticed and immediately picked him up. "Does this have something to do with Silver?" Her voice rose and Silver, picking up on it, patted her arm in response. Blue glanced down, offering him a tiny smile.

I asked, "Blue does have a point; does this have something to do with Silver?"

"Well…" Grandfather half-stood, sat back down, and then shuffled some papers around.

"What's that supposed to me?!" Blue cried, her grip on Silver tightening.

"When I was looking into legendaries who could help us, Mew was an obvious choice. But when I investigated further into the whereabouts of Mew's current location, I came across some rather unsettling news."

Grandfather picked up the remaining folder, pulling out a few sheets of paper and offering them to Blue and I. "It's been rumored that Mew has been spotted at a location known as Faraway Island."

"Isn't that place only a myth?" Blue asked. She shrugged. "I've heard of it, but only in fairy tales."

"Who's to say it doesn't exist?" grandfather argued. "And in fact, we have solid evidence that it does exist."

"Really?!" Even I leaned forward curiously; it was hard to believe that it would actually be possible to physically find Mew.

Grandfather took another paper out, but this sheet was slightly bigger, tattered around the edges and much older looking. Peering more closely at it, I saw that it was a map.

"This map leads to the place known as Faraway Island. It's the place where Mew is most frequently rumored to be found." Grandfather frowned. "Unfortunately there's also been a lot of suspicious activity around Faraway Island in these past few weeks."

"What do you mean by activity?" I said.

Pulling out another paper, Grandfather turned it toward us. It was a grainy photograph but the bold red R's displayed on the figures in the picture were unmistakable.

Blue's eyes hardened. "Where were these taken?"

Grandfather sighed. "These photos were taken from the coast of Faraway Island of its surrounding shores."

"By who?" Besides being the supposed habit of Mew, Faraway Island was said to be wild and utterly deserted.

"By one of my good friends; he'll be able to explain all of this better than I can," grandfather said, replacing both papers in the folder then handing it to Blue.

She blinked at the abrupt gesture but took it. "And who would that be?"

At that moment a knock interrupted our conversation. Grandfather glanced at the clock and stood up, heading for the door. "Why don't you ask him yourselves?"

**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"Red, you put that rock down now!"

I laughed a little as I watched Sapph struggle to stop Red from stuffing the chunk of rock into his tiny mouth. Standing up, I managed to pull it out of his surprisingly strong little fists as I said, "I don't think he understands what you're saying Sapph."

She threw up her hands. "And I don't understand what he's doing trying to tell me half the time!" Sapph turned her eyes to me beseechingly. "You sure you can't come to Johto with me? After all, it's your place not mine"

"Well, Hoenn's your place, not mine," I parroted back. "Are you sure you aren't just nervous about being stuck with Ruby one on one?"

"Him?!" Sapph snorted. "As if! Besides, we're gonna be taking care of these two so it's not like we're alone…" she mumbled quietly at the end.

Seeing I was hitting a touchy subject I quickly changed the topic. "Anything special in Hoenn I should be looking out for?"

Sapph's expression brightened as a grin replaced the frown from before. "Heck yeah! You should try the hot springs in Lavraridge town if you get the chance; Sootopolis is really cool, 'cause it's located in a volcano crater! Oh, and you should try and find people's secret bases!"

"What's that?" I asked. A secret base…?

"It's a place of your own that you make, usually behind vines or in caves and stuff, and then you can decorate it or fill it up with more stuff," Sapph said. She paused then added. "I don't though obviously!"

Stifling a chuckle, I said. "Geez, you make it sound so interesting; I wish you were going to Hoenn so you could show me around your secret base!"

Sapph shrugged. "Usually people don't see other people's bases; that's why they're _secret_ bases! You can look for other people's bases though."

I cocked my head and asked curiously. "Then no one's ever found your base?"

"No way!" Sapph exclaimed confidently. There was a moment's pause. "Well…yeah, once."

"Really?! Did you know them?"

Sapph scratched her cheek. "It was Ruby," she muttered before reverting back to her loud tone. "Technically I brought him there the first time and then way later he came back and messed it all up!"

"Messed it up…?"

She nodded. "He brought all this junk in Slateport and turned it entirely upside down!" she said indignantly. She fished around in her pack for a second. "See? He even took pictures of all of it!"

I peered at the picture and the toddlers struggled to look too. The picture in Sapph's hand was of a tastefully decorated space with cute pokemon dolls, stuffed pillows lined attractively in rows and even a Skitty themed television. I blinked at Sapph in disbelief.

"…That counts as messing up?"

Sapph glared down at the picture. "Well he did that! And then he wouldn't admit-!"

"Admit…?" I sighed; usually I didn't need to pull teeth to get Sapph to talk, but today was an entirely new ballgame.

"Admit that he likes m…"

"Hey, you guys done nattering like old ladies yet?"

I turned and jumped back a step as Gold spoke up from behind me. Beside him, Ruby was holding Yellow and looking back and forth at Sapph and me curiously. I blushed, wondering if he'd overheard us talking about him.

"We're not talking like old ladies!" Sapph snapped. It seemed like her solution to the possibility of the subject of the gossip overhearing the actual gossip was to pretend like it didn't happen in the first place.

Ruby set Yellow down in response to Red who was pulling at his pant leg. As he straightened, his eye caught the photo still in Sapph's hand. "What's that?" he asked, reaching a hand toward it curiously.

"Wha-? I-It's nothing!" Sapph yelped, jerking her arm away, accidently dropping the picture in her edginess.

Immediately, Red pounced on it and proceeded to stuff the thing in his mouth as Yellow watched with wide eyes. Rald (who had been playing at our feet this entire time) was also staring at Red, though his expression seemed more amused than Yellow's.

"Ah! Don't do that!" Sapph shouted, managing to wrestle the photo out of Red's grasp in the nick of time. "That thing's actually worth something to me!"

We all stared at Sapph, the guy's curiously wondering what in Latios's name the photo was of, and me wondering what the guys would say/think if they knew what the photo was of. Sapph hurriedly stuffed the picture back into her bag then turned to glare at us all.

"Well, didn't you say we're ready to go?"

"Uh…yeah," Ruby said, looking confused. He picked up Yellow who reached up and tried to pull at his hat. Lightly pulling back a little, Ruby offered her a stuffed Skitty plush which she took with a happy smile. "The ferries are leaving in about ten minutes; we should get our stuff ready and board."

"Alright," Gold nodded. He looked down then moaned. "Dude, your kid's a bad influence on mine!"

We all turned our attentions to the ground, just in time to see Rald attempt to stuff a rock into his mouth. Red meanwhile already had a chunk in his mouth and was reaching around for another.

Sapph picked up Red as I picked up Rald and we both fished out the rocks from their mouths. I grimaced and chucked it far away. "Don't do that again mister!" I said sternly to Rald. He simply laughed in response and I smiled.

"Geez Serious Gal, that's no way to discipline your kid," Gold said mockingly.

I raised my brow challengingly at him. "And you're the discipline master? Says Mister I-break-rules-for-fun?"

"It's simple," Gold answered, picking up a rock and holding it up in front of Rald. "Rock equals bad; don't eat it!" He offered it to Rald who proceeded to try to eat it. Immediately Gold snatched it back and smacked his hand lightly.

I reeled back. "Gold, you should never hit kids!"

"What?! It's what my mom did," he muttered. Offering the rock again to Rald, he received no response. Instead, Rald stared at the rock then Gold cautiously. "See? It worked!"

In about two seconds however, Rald grabbed the rock and stuffed it into his mouth with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. Again I raised a brow as I removed the rock from Rald's mouth. "Yeah, that worked out real well," I said sarcastically.

"Well, I tried!"

"And it didn't work!"

"Guys, we have to catch our ferry and you have to catch yours!" Ruby half-yelled. We turned as he placed a finger to his lips, gesturing with his head to Yellow who was sleeping against his shoulder.

"Sorry, sorry," I murmured. Seeing that Ruby and Sapph had already picked up their bags along with Red and Yellow, I hurriedly grabbed my stuff, signaling for Gold to do the same. "See you guys later then; good luck!"

Ruby and Sapph nodded. "You too!" Sapph said. "And have fun looking for bases!"

"I'm going to try and find yours," I responded jokingly.

"Not gonna happen," she piped back as we all separated. As they headed away, I could still hear them faintly.

"You mean you haven't shown Crys your base?" Ruby sounded surprised.

"No, the only one who's ever seen it is you…" Sapph trailed off.

"Oh." Even though it was faint, I thought I detected a hint of relief in that one word along with a hint of something else. I smiled; maybe it had something to do with what Sapph was saying earlier…

"Yo, we gotta go serious gal!"

"Coming!" I issue yelled back. This rushing around was happening way to often; I'd have to ponder about Sapph and Ruby's complicated relationship after all this toddler nonsense was over…

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**A/N**: Oooh, so it turns out it's not the end yet, haha. Happy? Sad? Because the Dex Holders still have a ways to go before their charges are back to normal. And yes, this chapter was mostly explanation, less shippy-ness, but it was necessary. The next chapters will focus on each group individually; I'm curious if you guys have a particular group you want to read first. If you do, or if you're just a nice person, please review and let me know!


	8. Childhood Memories

Was'sup guys? So it seems like you readers were happy that the tale isn't ending yet plus a majority of you wanted to read (drumroll please) oldrivalshipping!...So here it goes. And as usual, thank you to the wonderful reviewers! Keep up the good work!

**Disclaimer**: Yup, pokemon isn't mine.

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**Blue's P.O.V.**

"That was the longest flight of my life! Ai…"

Green and I stared at the white haired, white-bearded, but stout figure of Professor's Oak friend as he heaved a sigh and mopped his brow with a navy and white handkerchief. At last he looked up.

"So these are the ones?"

"The ones…?" I trailed off, looking at Green. His expression didn't change but I sensed he too was wondering what this man was going on about.

"Maybe you should introduce yourself first Briney?" Professor Oak coughed.

The man blinked. "Hm? Oh right. Briney's the name; Mr. Briney!" He offered his hand to me and I shook it, feeling multiple calluses all over his strong palm.

Letting go of my hand, he ignored Green's outstretched hand, instead pulling him into a strong bear hug. When he released him, I saw Green's expression was shell-shocked. I suppressed a giggle.

"And Green! I haven't seen you in years! Not since you were a baby and my darling Piko was just an egg."

Also catching Green's expression, and noticing that it was getting increasingly peeved, Professor Oak stepped in with another cough.

"Well Briney, it's good to see you. But as you see, we're in a bit of a dilemma as I told you before and it would be a great help if you could help us…_now_," he added delicately.

"Ah yes, yes, yes…" Mr. Briney sighed. "This whole situation is a problem." He took out a battered looking pipe, lit it, and puffed on it before speaking.

"Ever since I was a younger man, my life's ambition has been to find Faraway Island. And not too long ago, I found it using the very map Professor Oak showed you," he said, tapping the map that still lay on Professor Oak's desk.

Seeing the photo that still sat beside it, I couldn't help speaking up. "What does this have to do with Team Rocket and us then?" Glancing worriedly at Silver, I wondered if he knew what was going on, but he was too busy pulling at the books off the professor's shelves.

Mr. Briney peered at the photo. "Just getting to that young lady! Unfortunately, I realized that the organization known as Team Rocket found Faraway Island as well."

"How?" Green said.

"By using the Pokemon known as Mew." Mr. Briney's eyes looked off to a distant space. "It's rumored that Faraway Island is undetectable due to the presence of Mew residing on it. The reason why the island can be found is because there is a hair of Mew embedded in it."

Seeing that both Green and I were about to speak, Professor Oak held up a hand to stop us and Mr. Briney continued.

"How they captured Mew, I have no idea. But by doing so, they have been able to find the cloaked island. Furthermore, they have set up a facility on Faraway Island and what they're doing there, I don't know!" He rubbed his hands together nervously. "I asked Professor Oak for help and he advised me to turn to you Dex Holders for it."

I glanced at Green then picked up Silver. "We would love to help you Mr. Briney…but I'm sure as Professor Oak's informed you, not all the Dex holders are capable of helping at the moment."

Mr. Briney nodded. "I understand. But at the very least, just having two of you investigate the case on Faraway Island would set my heart at ease. Plus, if you do find Mew, it could be beneficial to you." The look he gave Silver was significant.

Once again, I turned to Green who nodded imperceptibly. With a sigh, I responded.

"Well…it seems like our best idea at this point." I hugged Silver, not wanting to expose him to Team Rocket again. "What do we have to do?"

"It's too risky to speak here," Mr. Briney whispered, looking around with shifty eyes. "Meet me at these coordinates as soon as possible. See you soon!"

With a quick toss of a tiny rolled-up paper at Green, Mr. Briney was out the door. I saw a bedraggled looking Pelipper swoop down, grab Mr. Briney by the shoulders, and fly away.

"Has he always been so…" I trailed off.

"...eccentric?" Professor Oak finished. "Ah, a little bit I think. His obsession with Faraway Island may have heightened it. But enough about that; Mr. Briney will help you find Mew and hopefully, you can help him."

Green was looking at the paper Mr. Briney had given us. "It's going to take us a few hours to get to this place." He pointed at a spot on the map. "It's just off the coast of Lavender Town."

"You'll have to take your car," Professor Oak said. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a pair of keys and gave them to Green. "I'll go inform your sister to get your bags. Luckily she packed them before."

I looked at Green in surprise as Professor Oak left. "You have a car?"

He nodded and headed for a side door with me, carrying Silver, following. Passing through it, I let out a long whistle at the sight that met my eyes. Smack in the middle of the room (which I supposed was a garage) was a bright silver sports car that looked untouched.

"That's yours?!" I yelped.

Green shrugged before pressing a remote control; the resounding "beep-!" from the car was enough of a reply.

"When'd you get it? I didn't even know you had a license!"

"Well, someone needed to drive Grandpa around. He's getting too old to be doing that by himself anymore," Green said. "Plus, Daisy isn't much of a driver, so the job landed on me."

"When'd you get this then?" I walked over to the car, impressed by the clear reflection of myself in its dark windows.

"It was a gift from Grandpa."

I let out another whistle, drawing a glare from Green. I giggled. "Sorry, it's just that this car is really cool. You're so lucky!"

"Green!"

We both turned as someone entered from the same doorway we had passed minutes ago. As she turned, I recognized the figure as Green's sister, Daisy.

"Oh thank Latias. I thought you might have run off already," she sighed. She was holding some bulky items in her arms and breathing heavily from her rush.

Green relieved her of the bundles then gave her a confused look. "What's this for?" he asked, holding up an item.

"That's your car seat! Don't you remember?" Daisy said. She smiled, opening the door and motioning for Green to put it in. "You can't expect to drive a toddler without one, obviously."

I grinned and Green narrowed his eyes, knowing that I was imagining him as a kid in this very car seat.

"Here, put him in Blue," Daisy said, patting the seat.

I placed Silver into the car seat. Then I blinked, baffled.

"What's wrong?"

"Um…how do you do all these?" I pointed at the complicated mess of straps that lay uselessly around Silver. He blinked, looking equally confused.

"Oh, that's easy." Daisy bent over and in less than a minute, she straightened with a triumphant grin. "There."

Silver was now safely cocooned in the car seat, straps firmly in place, keeping him safe and set. I smiled, ruffling his hair.

Green, who had been silent this entire time, opened the trunk, placing the belongings Daisy had packed for us inside. He came back to where we were standing. "Ready?"

I nodded. "Thanks for everything Daisy!"

Daisy smiled back. "Thank you for going out on this hunt for Mew. I knew Grandfather was worrying about this for a couple of days already. Just be careful alright?"

I nodded again while Green sighed, opening the passenger door and motioning for me to get in.

"Shouldn't I sit in the back?" I asked.

"I think Silver will be fine," Daisy said, peering into the side where Silver was. I checked too and saw that Silver was already fast asleep.

"Ok…" I got in carefully then Green shut the door. Before he could walk to the driver's side, Daisy grabbed him into a quick hug. I smiled, seeing the same baffled expression on Green's face from Mr. Briney's earlier hug.

As Green slid into the driver's seat, I couldn't help speaking. "You're not much of a hugger, are you?"

"Just be quiet pesky girl." Green started the engine with a smooth purr.

**-1 hr later-**

"I think that's the eighty-seventh? Or eighty-eighth…tree we passed."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Green roll his own eyes. "And that matters because…?"

I sighed dramatically. "Because I'm booooooored…"

With another eye roll, Green became silent again. I stared, wondering if he was just a robot, driving a really nice car.

"…What do you want woman?"

"Woman? Jeez, you make me sound so old," I cried. I tipped my head to the side in thought. "But since you asked…tell me a story."

"…What?"

"A story! I want to hear you tell a story," I repeated.

Green shook his head as he changed lanes. "I don't tell stories."

I pouted. "You must have some story to tell. Unless you're brain dead or something."

Green glared and I suppressed a giggle. I knew (and he probably did too), that I was going to get my way this time; I just needed to pester him a little more.

"Just one. Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease," I drew out.

"About what?"

I grinned. "Tell me something about you and Daisy."

"My sister?" Green sounded surprised.

"No, your pet Arbok," I said. "Yes, your sister!"

Green gave me another glare to which I responded with another cheeky grin. Finally, he sighed, taking one hand off the steering wheel to run it through his hair then returning it to the wheel.

"When Daisy and I were little, I used to follow her all the time. She was my big sister so I really looked up to her."

"Awwww."

Green looked at me and I decided to keep my mouth shut until the end of the story. Glancing at the rear-view mirror though, I wondered if what Green was saying was how Silver saw me.

"Sometimes Daisy would lead me into stupid things and since I was little, I did them without thinking." Green paused. "Once, she wanted to go sledding."

"Sledding?" I gestured toward the windows where a clear sky and green grass was visible under the bright sun.

Green nodded. "Obviously Kanto doesn't get much snow, especially in Pallet town. So Daisy decided to make up our own sledding. She took an empty cardboard box from Grandpa's lab, flattened it, and said it was our sled."

I waited as Green glared at a group of teens speeding down the highway in a hot red convertible. "And then…?" I prompted.

Green sighed. "The only staircase we had was the one leading from the second floor of the lab to the ground floor, so Daisy said that would be our mountain. She put me in the front, saying I was lighter, and then she sat in the back."

I grinned, having a good idea of what was going to happen.

"Before I could even speak or even think, Daisy pushed off and we were flying down those steps." Green winced. "What I didn't know and even she didn't know, was Grandpa had just gotten a shipment of Muk samples from Professor Elm that day."

"Muk samples?" I gagged.

"Yeah, Muk samples." Green frowned. "So we ran into them, got covered in Muk sludge, I cried, and both of us got in trouble."

I couldn't help giggling.

"What?"

"I'm trying to imagine you as a little kid, crying and in Muk sludge," I managed to sputter.

The look Green gave me was enough of a warning. I stopped myself from laughing before I spoke.

"Well, you have to see it from Daisy's point of view. Younger siblings are so much fun to play with!"

"And you would know…?"

I pointed to the back. Green's eyes shifted to look at Silver then turned back to me.

"Silver's basically like the equivalent of a younger brother to me," I said. "Even when we were stuck with that Masked Man, we still had fun sometimes."

"Really?"

I was pleasantly surprised that Green's tone sounded genuinely interested. Deciding I could keep it up, I nodded. "Yeah really." I thought for a moment. "Like one time…"

"One time?"

I pouted. "Hey, I didn't interrupt your story so you don't get to interrupt mine."

Green sighed, but nodded, almost mockingly.

"Once when Silver and I were really little and we had free time, we were wandering around the halls in the building the Masked Man placed us in. There were a lot of doors but the one that actually got my attention was the one that was partially open."

The look Green gave me was now curious so I continued quickly.

"It had mirrors lining the walls and a whole bunch of makeup all over the counters," I said. I could still remember seeing the rows and rows of mascara, blush, lipstick, nail polish, and other products lining the entire place.

"Makeup." Green repeated tonelessly. His eyes seemed to question my sanity.

I glared back. "Hey, I was just curious. So I went in along with Silver and we locked the door."

Green's eyebrows rose slightly.

"And then I played makeup artist." I smiled at the memory. "Of course, I was only about six so everything I put on Silver was in the wrong place and I was using the wrong products too."

I could still picture the image of Silver and my messy faces in the mirror with lipstick on our cheeks, eyeliner lining our lips and blush powdering our eyes. I wondered if Silver still remembered…

"What happened when they found you?"

I shrugged. "Well, the older girl who owned all the stuff banged on the door until we let her in."

"And then?"

"And then we got a beating for messing with her stuff. Plus we had to do her chores because it took two whole bottles of remover to get all the gunk off."

"Hm." The sympathetic look Green wore however, spoke volumes.

"It's passed," I said, leaning against the window and staring out. "You and I are still lucky though."

"Lucky?"

I nodded, rubbing my forehead against the cool glass. "Lucky to have siblings to share all our good and bad times."

"…"

I turned slightly to peer at Green. At the same moment, he glanced toward me and our eyes met.

"…I guess so."

Turning back, I smiled. Sometimes, it took a little reminding to remember what we had in life.

**Green's P.O.V.**

"Oh my gosh…we have to stop."

"What? Why?" I asked.

Blue sat up from the position she had been slumped in for the past two hours. She jabbed the window impatiently. "There's a sign for Moomoo Burgers!"

"…So?"

"It's Moomoo Burgers!" she cried. "I haven't had one in forever!"

I sighed. Weren't all burgers the same? "We don't really need it. And we need to get to Briney's as soon as possible."

"We've been driving non-stop since we left the lab," Blue whined. "Plus, I'm starving."

I let out another sigh, glancing at the mirror to see what Silver was doing. Squinting, I could see that he was now awake; awake and glaring at me, probably for denying Blue her burger.

"Fine."

"Really?" Blue perked up.

"But it has to be fast," I said, signaling to turn off the road and into the lot of Moomoo Burgers.

"Yay! Moomoo Burgers!" Blue cheered, jumping out of the car right as I pulled into an empty spot.

I resisted another urge to sigh, instead unbuckling Silver and picking him up. Immediately, he began to squirm and try to kick. Rolling my eyes, I handed him to Blue; as soon as he was in her arms, he was as still as a statue.

"You hungry Silver?" Blue cooed, oblivious to the fight he'd been putting up.

I held open the door, willing myself not to just leave the kid in this place.

-**inside**-

"Look!"

I turned as Blue's voice rose abruptly. The only thing that met my gaze however, was the showcase of toys that accompanied every kid's meal. Blue squealed and dashed over to the case with Silver still in her arms.

"They brought back the original Tiny Tots!"

I peered into the case where my gaze met an array of cheap, brightly colored plastic pokemon toy figurines. Blinking, I turned away. "What do you want?"

"Huh?" Blue said, stepping quickly to catch up to me.

"I said, what do you want?"

"You're buying?"

I nodded, standing in the somewhat long line. "Yes. So what do you want?"

"I'll take a Moomoo double burger, Poke-shake-shake fries, a triple creamy strawberry Moomoo milkshake…"

Suddenly Blue burst out laughing. "Your face! I was joking! I'll just take a regular Moomoo burger with cheese. Oh, and a kid's meal for Silver please, thanks!"

She whirled off to the seats, leaving me speechless, just as I reached the head of the line.

"Uh…can I help you sir?"

I sighed. "Just give me two Moomoo burgers with cheese and a kid's meal. As fast as possible. Please."

-**5 minutes later**-

"Here."

I set the tray down as Blue snatched the kid's meal box from it, almost in mid-air. She opened it, pulling out the toy, before dropping it with a disappointed sigh.

"What?"

"It's Petey the Pichu."

I unwrapped a burger. "So?"

"We already _have_ Petey the Pichu." Blue frowned, poking at a fry listlessly.

Taking a bite, I chewed, swallowed, and then (despite the instinct warning me not to ask) asked, "What do you want?"

Blue brightened. "Another kid's meal."

I stared at her. "You haven't even touched your food nor has Silver touched his."

"But it's Petey the Pichu…we already _have_ Petey the Pichu," Blue repeated.

"Fine." I stood up and set the burger down.

Ten minutes later, I returned and dropped the kid's meal box in front of Blue who again ripped it open eagerly. Seeing what figure it was, she again dropped it and looked upset.

"What now?"

"It's Tim the Togepi. We already _have_ Tim the Togepi."

I rubbed my head, feeling a headache coming on. "Which one do you want? I'll just ask them to exchange it."

Blue gasped, looking appalled. "Green! You're telling me to cheat?!"

I stared at her. "…says the girl who uses a Ditto to transform her features to get what she wants, who steals on a regular basis, who actually stole from my own grandpa? Are you kidding me?"

Blue gave me a haughty look. "It might be too late for me, but I'm trying to teach Silver here some morals. Including _not_ cheating for what he wants."

Glancing at Silver, I could see his expression was fairly indifferent. He had taken Petey the Pichu and Tim the Togepi and was moving them across the table in a manner only he could understand.

"So you want…?"

"Another kid's meal please!" Blue's expression turned from pretentious to eager in less than a second.

I sighed. It was easier to give in than to try to reason with Blue at times like this. The pesky woman was just too stubborn.

**-45 minutes and 10 kid's meals later**-

"Oh my Lugia! We got it!"

I pulled my head up from the table where it had been resting, scattering the Willy the Wynaut and the Ashley the Azurill doll from where they had been placed (on my head) courtesy of Silver.

"Got what?"

I was still feeling tired and sluggish after eating at least four of the meals I'd ordered while waiting for Blue to decide whether she was feeling lucky enough to get the toy she wanted. So it took me a second to even comprehend what figure Blue was currently waving in front of my eyes.

"It's Mani the Mantyke!"

"We ordered twelve meals for this…?" I stared wordlessly at the bit of cheap blue plastic encased in Blue's hand.

"It's the one I always wanted when I was little," Blue said. "But I was only allowed one kid's meal a week from mommy, then I got captured and whatnot. By the time I escaped, they'd stopped making the Tiny Tots!"

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to prevent the headache I could still feel. "So are we done here?"

"Yup!" Blue heaved Silver up from the high chair he was in. Silver was again fast asleep with Suzy the Smoochum and Petey the Pichu clenched in his tiny fists. "Thank you Green!" Before I could even blink, Blue had placed a quick kiss on my cheek and was out the door.

"…"

I turned, heading for the door, only to be stopped by a worker.

"Sir, would you like the rest of these toys?"

I paused. "Keep them. We already have what we need." With that, I followed Blue and Silver back to the car.

* * *

**A/N:** Hehe, Blue and Green reliving their childhoods while Silver's having fun with Poketoys. By the way, I could literally imagine all those incidents happening to Green, Daisy, Blue and Silver, so I hope you guys could too! And I hoped you liked it and that you'll review! (P.S. If any of you guys are reading my other fic, **Chinese Finger Trap**, it's going to be updated soon so look out for that!)


	9. Ups and Downs

****Hello reader people! Thank you to the great reviewers from last time; love how you guys liked the portrayal of all the characters from the last chapter, especially Silver and Green. It made me happy it turned out okay. So it took me a little time, but I finally got an update ready to post. This one's for the mangaquestshippers out there because 1. it's Gold & Crystal's turn and 2. I've been mangaquestshipping deprived for a while. If you're a mangaquestshipper, yay! If you're not...well, good luck to you; hopefully you like Rald enough for this chapter to be your saving grace. Haha, just kidding. But on a more serious note, my updates for the next few weeks may lessen due to an important project I need to focus on, so if there aren't updates for a bit, please just bear with me. I'll try to update asap, but there are no guarantees. Hope you guys understand and as usual, please enjoy and review!

**Disclaimer**: Pokemon...if it were mine, mangaquestshipping would=canon

* * *

**Crystal's P.O.V.**

"I knew I shouldn't have let him wander off…"

I sighed, glancing around the area anxiously for a sign of Gold but only saw a few stragglers still departing from the docked ship. Their curious stares met mine and I dropped my gaze in embarrassment.

Luckily a small gurgle distracted me and I smiled as I picked up Rald from his previous seat on top of Gold and my bags.

"Any sign of him Rald?"

He only smiled and burbled some nonsense. I tried nodding then shaking my head and was amused to see that he tried mimicking me.

I dabbed at a bit of drool creeping from Rald's mouth with a spare tissue I had. "Then again, maybe that's the reason why he ran off so quickly…" I muttered wryly.

**-flashback-**

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAH-!"

"Why is he crying?!"

I winced at both Gold's loud tone and Rald's noisy tears. At the same time, I was cringing at the annoyed looks we were receiving from the other passengers on the ship.

"Ah…I forgot…" I started to mutter.

"Forgot what?!"

"…Forgot that Rald dislikes ships," I finished, grimacing as Rald thrashed violently in my arms. Though Gold was still frowning at Rald's loud crying, he gestured for me to handle the distressed toddler which I did quickly.

Gold flinched as Rald made a blind swipe at him. "Dislikes ships?"

I nodded, pretending to ignore the glare of a prim looking elderly woman as she passed. "Yeah because…"

Before I could say another word however, Rald did exactly what I feared…he threw up. All over Gold's back.

"Ack-!" Gold yelled, holding the child an arm's length away, remarkably not dropping Rald despite the shock from Rald's last action.

"Oh my…" Hurrying over I grabbed Rald and held him against the rail of the ship where he proceeded to empty his stomach of this morning's breakfast overboard. I winced at the sounds of upchucking combined with wails emitting from the tiny boy. Finally, Rald stopped and only whimpered miserably.

I sighed, producing a napkin which I wiped Rald's mouth with then patted his back. "Poor Rald…"

"And poor me I hope?"

Turning with Rald still draped over my shoulder, I saw Gold approaching sans signature hoodie, clad in a plain black t-shirt. I offered him a sympathetic look.

"Sorry. I probably should have warned you about Rald's sea sickness problem earlier…"

Surprisingly Gold didn't freak out (which I was kind of expecting). "It's cool. I've got another jacket in my pack, I just didn't know he had this problem in the first place."

I nodded. "Well, it was mostly when he was younger I suppose. When he got older, he seemed to do better on boats; maybe it's because he's a toddler again…?" I mused.

Gold chuckled and I looked up.

"What?"

"You look cute with that expression."

"W-what?" I sputtered. "I was just thinking that's all!" I peeked over my shoulder, both to check on Rald (who was sleeping peacefully now) and to avoid Gold's gaze. "I think we're almost there…"

At that very moment, the ship's horn sounded, signaling our arrival. Gold immediately stood up, grabbing the bags.

"Let's get off and you watch Rald and the stuff while I get the car okay?"

Still too flustered, I only managed a nod before Gold shot off.

**-end flashback-**

I was pulled out of my thoughts quite literally by Rald tugging at my the ends of my pigtails. Looking down, I smiled.

"What's up Rald?"

The only response I received was a look of awe on Rald's face followed by a loud roaring from behind me. I turned.

"Got it!"

I stared in shock at the thing Gold was seated on.

"What…is that?!"

"A motorcycle!" Gold cried cheerfully. "Duh."

I glared. "I know what it is! But _why_ is it here?!"

"Wasn't that what the voucher thing Oak gave us was for?"

"That's Professor Oak to you!" I snapped. "And he said it was for a car! Not for your childish amusement!"

Gold rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Well, it gets around just like a car and it's definitely cooler than a car so why not?"

I gawked at him. "Have you forgotten?" I held up Rald to finish my sentence.

Gold stared at me for a second, snatched Rald from my hands and deposited him in the sidecar I had just noticed. I blinked then met Gold's eyes.

"No."

"Why not?" Gold whined.

"Are you mental?!" I began ticking off my reasons. "It's completely illegal, completely unsafe, and if you've forgotten…Rald is currently not even a child, let alone an adult capable of riding a motorcycle!"

Again, Gold moved quickly, this time snatching my bag from the ground and rummaging around it for a moment.

"What are you doing?" I said.

"Ah-ha!" Gold said, pulling out something triumphantly. Looking closer, I realized it was Rald's Trainer I.D. card.

As I noted this, Gold held the card up to Rald's face. "See? There's like, no difference at all!"

Peering at the card, I had to admit…that Rald didn't seem to have changed much from his real age and his current form. The only difference really was how happy Rald looked now, waving his arms merrily in the sidecar.

"Well…" I struggled. "It's still illegal."

"But it's gonna take forever to get this changed for a car," Gold countered. "Just live a little Serious Gal. You do wanna get Rald and the others back to normal a.s.a.p right?"

I nodded reluctantly. Seeing my surrender, Gold handed me a helmet and gestured for me to get on behind him.

"If we get caught for this, I'm blaming it on you," I muttered as I put the helmet on and mounted the bike.

"It'd be interesting to play the bad guy for once," was Gold's smirking reply. "After all, I can't _always_ be saving damsels in distress."

**-just outside Lavaridge Town-**

"According to the instructions Professor Oak gave us, the guide should meet us here…"

"Hey, look at this!"

I sighed, turning around to see Gold waving a paper at me excitedly.

"What now?"

Gold subdued for a second at my tone, but in a heartbeat was back to his usual up-beat self. "There's a petting zoo going on nearby!"

I blinked. "A…petting zoo?"

Nodding, Gold pushed the paper into my hand, nearly crushing the papers Professor Oak gave me. I threw Gold a glare (which he ignored as he went to play with Rald) and read it quickly.

"Patty's Pet-Pet Pokemon Petting Zoo! A mobile wonder of an array of exotic Pokemon from all over the world, including special rarities directly from Unova! Come see our shiny Ponyta, Pam! Located on the outskirts of Lavaridge Town for a limited time."

"There's a lot of p's in that poster…"

"So can we go?" Gold's voice interrupted me.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "We have to meet up with the guide Professor Oak sent!"

Gold waved his hand flippantly. "We got here early! We've got plenty of time so can we go? Pleeeeeeeeeease!"

Opening my mouth, I was about to protest when Gold held Rald in front of me.

"See? Rald wants to go to!" I didn't know if Rald truly understood what was going on, but he had his biggest Poccheyena eyes at me and I felt my resolve crumble.

"Fine." Gold cheered, tossing Rald up and catching him. "But-! Only for a little bit, understand?"

"Yup! Let's go Rald!"

Holding Rald under his arm like a football, Gold dashed off into the trees, leaving me to follow.

"What an idiot…" I sighed. Still, I couldn't help the smile creeping up my face at this "idiot's" enthusiasm.

**-a few minutes later-**

Emerging from the forest into a spacious clearing, the first thing I noticed was a large corral built of wooden planks. Enclosed within said corral was a large variety of pokemon, ranging from Mareep to Ponyta to Psyduck to Spoink and even a few Deerling and Sawsbuck (the "rarities from Unova" I supposed).

"Yo! Super Serious Gal!"

I suppressed a sigh as I noted many of the visitors inside the petting zoo look up at Gold's call. Hurrying over, I shook my head violently to shut him up.

Gold shrugged away my glare easily. Instead he grinned widely. "Here!"

Like before, he forced something into my hands. I jumped, almost dropping the things in my palms, due to their rather mushy texture. Seeing what they were, I relaxed.

"Pokemon chow?" I still said, still cupping the small pellets of compressed Pokemon treats.

"Yeah, cost like a buck for one turn of the handle," Gold answered, nodding at the machine I noticed beside the entrance of the zoo.

"Where's Rald?!" I just realized Rald was nowhere beside Gold.

Gold flicked his head toward the zoo. "He's already inside."

I resisted the urge to smack my head (or Gold's head). "Well, then let's go in!" Without waiting for a response, I headed into the corral while Gold followed.

**-inside-**

"Maaaaa!"

"Mommy, look! Chocolate!" said a happy child, grabbing at something brown on the floor and attempting to stuff it into his mouth before his mother interceded.

"No honey! That's not chocolate!" she said, her voice rising anxiously as she swatted the mystery brown item out of her kid's hands.

Ignoring their drama, I looked around anxiously for Rald, heaving a sigh of relief when I spotted him standing a ways from the pokemon, looking rather timid among the ruckus.

Quickly I hurried over, dropping the Pokemon chow (drawing a crowd of hungry Pokemon), and scooped Rald up.

"Poor Rald," I said. "First the boat and now this."

"What's up?"

I turned and narrowed my eyes at Gold. "You just leave Rald in the middle of this chaos and ask what's up?"

Gold shrugged. "My mom used to do that all the time and I turned out pretty fine if you ask me."

Sighing, I shifted Rald on my hip. "Well, Rald isn't quite as "fine" as you. I don't think he likes it here."

"What?! No way!" Gold grabbed Rald and placed him on the ground. "It just takes some time getting used to the Pokemon. Look."

He pulled both of us over to a corner where as mild looking Sawsbuck was lying down, chewing at some chow peacefully. For a second, it paused, eyeing us, before returning to its munching.

"All you gotta do is this," Gold said, placing his hand on the Sawsbuck shoulder and stroking down its back slowly.

Seeing that Rald was looking a little less wary, I decided to join in. "That's right Rald. See? Gentle strokes."

Bending down, I also proceeded to pet the Sawsbuck which had, by this time, closed its eyes contently at the double petting it was receiving.

Rald looked from Gold to me to the Sawsbuck with a look of open admiration. I nodded encouragingly at his interest. "That's it Rald; no need to be afraid…"

At my nod, Rald raised his hand…

…And brought it down with a solid "SMACK-!" on the poor old Sawsbuck's back.

"Buck!" the pokemon yelped, eyes opening as wide as possible. It reared and rushed off, starting off a domino effect of people and pokemon freaking out, pushing and shoving one another aside, and resulting in a stampede of the entire petting zoo.

"…"

"We should…" Gold started, glancing nervously at me.

I let out a breath of relief I hadn't realized I was holding at seeing Rald safe in Gold's arms. "…go?" I finished.

"Yeah."

The two of us, with Rald in Gold's arms, snuck out of the corral as the cries and bawls of angry/annoyed/fearful pokemon and people followed us out.

**-outside-**

"That was _not_ what I was expecting."

Gold snickered beside me, drying his hands on a paper towel he'd gotten from the dispenser next to the mobile sink provided by the petting zoo outside the corral.

"You mean Rald freaking out one pokemon and managing to cause a riot in there to go on? No…how did you _not_ see that coming?"

I opened my mouth to protest then shut it, catching the teasing glint in Gold's eye. "Huh…well, you do have more experience in these sorts of things so I have an excuse."

I handed Rald over to Gold who proceeded to dry the toddler's dripping hands while I washed my own hands.

"Ah…" I sighed, catching a glimpse of myself in the tiny mirror above the sink. "We're about to meet Professor Oak's associate and we look like a mess." Now that I was looking more closely, I could see bits of hay in Rald's hair, smudges of dirt on his cheeks, and dust over much of his clothes. Surprisingly, Gold was pretty dirt-dust-hay free.

I ran a quick hand through Rald's hair, pulled at his clothes to get the dust off and wiped his face with a damp towel. "There. That's better."

"What about you?"

"Oh, right," I sighed. I ruffled my hair and dusted at my skirt. "I think that's better…?"

"You missed a spot."

Still holding Rald with one arm, Gold reached out with the other arm. Cupping my face with his fingers, he used his thumb to rub at a spot on my cheek. Embarrassingly, I could feel my face heat up and from the grin on Gold's, he probably felt it too.

"There, _now_ you're perfect."

"…Thank you," I managed to say as I turned. "We should probably get back to the meeting spot; it's almost time."

**-back-**

As we exited from the clearing back to where we had been before, I could see a tall figure stand up from where he'd been squatting beside Gold's motorcycle. As we got closer, I noted the person was a guy probably only a little older than Blue, Green, and Red.

"Hi, are you Crystal and Gold?"

"Ah, yes!" I hurried over, extending my hand as Gold, with Rald, followed a little more slowly. "I'm Crystal, but please call me Crys."

The guy smiled and I felt myself blush a little. He was almost as tall as Gold, also with black hair in a style that was short, but settled in an asymmetrical cut, unlike Gold's wild, spiky hair. I noted big brown eyes behind his dark-rimmed glasses as he offered me a kind smile and his hand.

"I'm Rhodi," he said, eyes crinkling as he smiled more widely.

"And I'm Gold." None too gently, Gold moved my hand out of Rhodi's grasp and pushed his own hand into Rhodi's. From the way his arm was tensing, I was guessing he wasn't giving Rhodi a "gentle" shake exactly.

Rhodi nodded, unfazed. "Ah yes. Professor Oak told me about both of you. And…?"

He trailed off, looking at Rald who looked back curiously.

"That's Emerald or Rald as we call him," I said. "You see, that's why…"

Rhodi held up his hand (which he'd managed to extract from Gold's grip). "Say no more. Professor Oak explained to me about everything." His eyes instantly became more serious. "You're looking for Jirachi, right?"

* * *

**A/N**: Hehe, more little kid drama along with Gold and Crystal time; but did anyone else besides me feel bad for Rald? Petting zoos combined with that child are not a good mix in my mind. This chapter was just Crystal's P.O.V., but no worries, I will be doing Gold's P.O.V. in an upcoming chapter I think. And now we're entering the more dramatic part, the legendaries! Oh, but first up, franticshipping for the next chapter so stay turned for that; and please review! By the way, Rhodi is an OC, more about him later. Ja ne!


End file.
